so what that we fight?

i had to write this one... she, my colleague, prompted me to... i could have just commented and finished off... but i have tonnes to say...
we, B and I, have known each other for 24 years and he formally proposed 23 years back, been married for 17+... but till today, if we disagree on something, we fight and fight hard... it can be very acrimonious, very bitter... but we are still together and find nothing wrong in fighting... in fact, if we have an issue right now, we will fight again...
and over the years, i have received comments (read unsolicited advice) from relatives, friends and even acquaintances... ranging from, "why don't you accept what he says?", to which my retort remains, "that's the easiest thing to do... to accept... but i cannot and will not."... to "women should be more docile," to which, i frown and say it all... to "why not meet a lawyer"... to which i laugh...
to my mind, there are three patterns of marriages -- one, the traditional, where men rule, two, where women call the shots, and three, where it is between two equal individuals... i have the third type of marriage... so we fight, we make up, we fight again... and no, there are no cold wars, no enmity, no ill feeling, we both know in our heart of hearts that we are each other's well wisher... we have been like that, we are like that, will remain like that...
to a query from a colleague as to what we did in the Id holidays, i said, "we finished all the pending fights..."... he burst out laughing... but that is so very normal...
in fact, on the first trip back home after our wedding, Dad saw us bickering while entering... we pretended to be normal in front of everyone but i saw a sombre Dad and anticipated questioning...
he asked me, "what was all that?", referring to the heated exchanges... i coolly said, "that is the way we fight... normal." "fine if that is what you think as normal, but take care to do it in privacy". it is only this advice that i have heeded to...