From ancient byways to modern highways, glimpses of faith are everywhere...

Friday, January 25, 2013

Pugach saga: Crazy Love or just plain crazy?

Romeo and Juliet (Ford Madox Brown)
Here it is 2013 and the definitions of both "crazy" and "love" are as debatable as ever.  This is especially true when it comes to relationships such as Linda and Burt Pugach's.

Now Linda and Burt (sounds a little too much like Liz and Burton in more ways than one) were just like any other adulterous couple except for these few details:  Burt was accused (twice) and convicted (once) of violently abusing lovers that rejected him.  He was sentenced to 14 years in prison for hiring "hit men to throw lye in her [Linda's] face."  Nevertheless, Linda accepted Burt's live-television marriage proposal years later.  She also defended Burt's
subsequent five-year affair with another woman by blaming herself because she couldn't have sex with him after her 1990 heart surgery.  While hanging on to Burt's arm, Linda concluded:  He was a naughty little boy, and he was caught.

It would be simple (but also simplistic) for these hackneyed conclusions to be added to the messy mix:  What goes around comes around (Linda was "the other woman" years before during Burt's first marriage); Takes one to know one ("naughty" Linda would therefore feel a kinship with "naughty" Burt);  A leopard never changes its spots (Burt's at it again)…

However, "love" (whether worldly or spiritual) is just not that easily described.  Some have said that God is love.  This would also mean that love is God - which makes it just as difficult to comprehend since there's no adequate definition of "God."  Others have said that love is chemistry.  Another glossy answer to a never-ending question…

After Linda's recent death, Burt is now wondering how he will go on without her (Romeo couldn't have said it any better).  He is also denying the crime against her for which he was convicted.  Burt is still asking:  If I had told anyone to throw lye at her, would she have married me?

Don't really know that for sure either...

Resources
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/24/linda-pugach-blind-nyc/1860977/

Copyright January 25, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved

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