I have to confess something - unlike the majority of women, I'm not really much of a chocolate fan. I occasionally eat some Lemonheads, or other sour candy, but rarely chocolate. Every once in a while though, I'll get an intense craving for one particular type of chocolate candy, and I have to give in... Reese's Peanut Butter cups - perhaps the best candy in the world - to me, at least. Despite the fact that I don't really like peanut butter (unless it's Jif Extra Crunchy), and don't much like chocolate either, I love Reese's Peanut Butter cups, go figure. There's just something about the contrast between the slightly salty peanut butter, and the sweet, smooth chocolate that I really, really like. Nothing is quite like it in taste.
It's odd... you can buy Reese's brand peanut butter in a jar at most any grocery store. It's mediocre, as far as peanut butter goes. And, it really tastes nothing like the peanut butter you find in a Reese's cup. Comparing the ingredients between what's in the jar and what's in the candy, they are identical - I even went so far as to call Hershey's once to verify. So why is it that the two taste so completely different? You can buy Hershey's milk chocolate as well - in bars, and as Hershey's Kisses. It's pretty mediocre chocolate - nothing great, but nothing terrible. And again, it doesn't really taste like the chocolate in a Reese's cup. And also again, the ingredients are the same. Why is this? What is it about taking the two key items and separating them that makes them seem so much less satisfying than when they're together?
The answer is simple... you have peanut butter, and you have chocolate. Two things that on their own, each taken individually, are pretty good. But put them together, and you get something way better than either one is alone. It's the blending of the two things... the mingling of flavors, of textures, that make a Reese's cup what it is.
And that's how the ideal relationship is, too. We've all seen "that couple" - they're the perfect blend of personalities, attitudes and quirks - and when they're together, you can't help but notice how well they fit. Of course, neither of them is perfect, but put them together and they sure seem like it. He may be loud and boisterous, she may be shy - but one balances the other - him drawing her out of her shell, her calming his wilder side. The weakness possessed by one is the strength of the other, and when you mix them all together, it's the perfect blend of tastes. That's how a good relationship is - the give and take, yin and yang, chocolate and peanut butter of it all that makes it so great.
So in the context of a relationship, am I the chocolate? Am I the peanut butter? I don't really know. What I do know is that when I'm with my husband, we become something more, something better, than either of us are on our own... we become that Reese's cup.
