Today, September 12, 2012, marks Tessa's and my twentieth
anniversary. For twenty years she has put up with being married to
an obsessive, messy, non-conformist trouble-maker, who would rather
rant about political philosophy than pick up his socks. And when,
after being married fourteen years, I managed to get her imprisoned
for a month (for being married to me), she didn't leave me. (Well,
she left me for a month, but you know what I mean.) When I did my
year as a political prisoner for not bowing to kiss the IRS ring,
she came and visited me. When my "hobby" of battling the federal
extortion racket got us robbed into poverty, she still didn't
abandon me. (Does that make her courageous, or just stupid? Hard to
say.) It can't be easy to be married to me--I certainly wouldn't
want to be married to me. But she never bailed out.
Tessa is brilliant and brave, not to mention beautiful. (She's been
thirty years old now for two decades, which is somewhat baffling.)
A lot of people throw around the phrase, "I couldn't have done it
without you." In this case, it's literally true. Not only does
Tessa have a big influence on my talks, my videos, and my books--
sometimes because she helps write them, and other times because she
gives her feedback and critique--but I literally can't imagine what
would have happened if she hadn't been with me for the past twenty
years. Those of us pitching true freedom to the world are often
plagued by feelings of frustration and being isolated, trying to
tell a truth to billions of people who don't want to hear it. If
Tessa hadn't been there, providing at least one reliable "kindred
spirit" I could count on, I don't know what would have happened. I
highly doubt it would have been good.
So far, I've been a mediocre provider (at best), hopefully a half
decent husband and father, but have done things which brought down
the wrath of control freaks on my family. However, while keeping
your head down may keep you out of trouble today, if none of the
good people do anything other than keeping their heads down, the
world becomes a very unpleasant place to live very quickly. So
while I regret what I've put my family through, I'm also proud of
what we have accomplished. On my videos, and when I give talks,
it's usually my ugly mug you see. (We all know that Tessa's face
would be a drastic improvement, but it's hard to convince her to do
such things.) But there is no way I'd still be doing this, and no
way I would have accomplished much of anything, if I had been alone
in this. And there aren't very many who would have dared to stay on
this journey with me.
I am ridiculously, unjustifiably lucky to have Tessa's support.
I've seen lots and lots of guys who decided to fight for freedom,
only to be abandoned, or even attacked, by "significant others" who
valued temporary security over long-term freedom and justice. It's
somewhat understandable, but also depressing to see those few who
are willing to fight for freedom being left out to dry by everyone
around them. If Tessa had been the kind of person to do that, I
doubt I would have accomplished much of anything in the last twenty
years. In fact, I'm not even sure I'd still be alive.
Anyway, I could rant on and on about how awesome Tessa is, in many
different ways, but you get the general idea. And if you want to
send Tessa your thanks, or support, or sympathies, or condolences,
for putting up with me for two freaking decades (holy smokes!), you
can send her stuff (by way of me) at the address below. If you're
at all thankful for anything I've ever done, then thank Tessa,
because little or none of it would have happened without her.
Sincerely,
Larken Rose
P.O. Box 653
Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
