To All The Girls I've Loved Before (5c)

I AM

If I pay attention to them
I will remain
Stunted in growth, stagnant and stale
I will not be all I'm made to be...

If I pay attention to the foibles
and flaws
I will not grow...
I will not advance

And I so desperately need to grow
to realize my potentials fully
for I am a person too
distinct, smart, gifted and great.

I am a person too...
i must not allow myself to be swallowed up
in conceptions and expectations
in ordinariness and averageness...

I am a person too; unique and great
with the power to be the bigger person
i must not allow myself to be swallowed up
in the myth of "the missus"

...Maureen Mancee (Mrs.)

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XX Editor's note XX

The poem above was written and displayed by the delightful MMM for the benefit of a certain Mr Mancee (MM).

Research has it that it was written after a battery of counselling sessions when the multitude of counsellors seemed intent on getting said Author to be more 'wifely'. They are reported as seemingly arriving at the same conclusion after listening to either side and often had this to say, "Maureen, you need to pay attention to your home and your husband".

MMM, a "Social Non-conformist" (as she calls herself) did not find this a workable option.

MM was to have an eureka moment some years later when it became obvious that no one had asked MMM what she 'wanted' to be, as opposed to what she was 'expected' to be.
The said epiphany was spawned when MMM called MM and said (verbatim) 'I can never be the wife who cooks and cleans'.

Report reaching us has it that He has since been defending her position vehemently, demanding that everyone who cares to listen respect her choice/decision; asking for only one thing in return; the right to choose to be who he also wants to be.