Madeleine L'engle On Her Marriage

The well-known author, Madeleine L’Engle,

in her book The Irrational Season

(The Seabury Press, New York, 1977)

writes about her long-time journey of

marriage to actor Hugh Franklin:

"It’s an extraordinary thing to me that Hugh and I

have been married for 29 years. It is also, I believe,

a good marriage, although much of it would not seem to

be so in terms of the kind of success commercials

would hold out to us…

"My love for my husband and his for me is in that

unknown, underwater area of ourselves where our

separations become something new and strange, merge

and penetrate like the drops of water in the sea.

But we do not lose our solitudes, or our particularity,

and we become more than we could alone.

"This is mystery. I cannot explain it. But I have

learned that it makes up for our clashes, our

differences in temperament, our angers, our

withdrawals, our failures to understand.

"No long-term marriage is made easily, and there

have been times when I’ve been so angry or so hurt

that I thought my love would never recover. And

then, in the midst of near despair, something

has happened beneath the surface. A bright little

flashing fish of hope has flicked silver fins

and the water is bright and suddenly I am returned

to a state of love again--till next time.

"[And] I’ve learned that there will always be a

next time, and that I will submerge in darkness,

but that I won’t stay submerged. And each time

something has been learned under the waters;

something has been gained; and a new kind of

love has grown. The best I can ask for is that

this love, which has been built on countless

failures, will continue to grow. I can say no

more than that this is mystery, and gift, and

that somehow or other, through grace, our failures

can be redeemed and blessed."