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Over the course of my life it’s become clear to me that trust is the foundation of all relationships. Trust shows up in different levels based on need and circumstances. When I go on Amazon and click on the battery powered fly swatter with the anti-fly guidance system that I’ve always wanted, I have trust that I will get it. I trust it will be as deadly accurate as advertised. If it’s not as advertised, I’m disappointed but not emotionally wounded. On the other end of the trust spectrum is my wife. We have been together for 22 years and she likely knows more about me than I see in myself. I trust her with it all. Money, thoughts, innermost fears, and my heart. My love for her is both enormously powerful and vulnerable. With all my talk of love and vulnerability, you may be shocked, OK maybe not, to learn that as a part of our day to day lives…we don’t always agree. What’s for dinner? Yes, I was listening to you! No, I don’t still think I’m right. No, Jennifer Lopez is not a great actress. It’s too early to start talking about the Red Sox in the World Series. Lot’s of little things that at the time seem more significant due to the familiarity of many years together. Of course, life often presents bigger problems. Sometimes much bigger problems. In my experience when the more significant things come along, we have moments of debate or disagreement, and then we rally as a unified front. We can do that, as I see it, only because under it all is the foundation of love built on trust. She, this woman I love more than anyone, is also the person I have the most disagreements with, bar none. I think that’s likely true in most marriages. It’s that kind of deep, trusting love that lets us disagree, get mad, and say, that was stupid, you're wrong, are you out of your mind, and still put our heads down on the pillow together that night. It’s the kind of trusting love that I believe would let us have the worst fight in the history of us and then in the blink of an eye defend each other ceaselessly should a threat present itself. In some ways, it’s a similar sort of thing that brothers and sisters have with each other. My life experience with my sisters was that as kids we fought like cats and dogs. Not all the time but from time to time. We would curse and scream at each other. Nobody else was allowed to do that. If someone came along and said what I said the day before to my Sister, I would have none of it. I would defend them to the end. It’s that sort of love that exists based on trust. The love for a brother, sister, husband, and wife that’s built on trust. It’s also true for friends and maybe our favorite waiter or perhaps the person you know at the grocery or the gym. All to different degrees but nonetheless a minimal essential level or a deep level of trust exists in all these relationships. Relationships are built on trust. My belief is this kind of implicit trust has existed for us all as Americans. Listen here to Trust here on the City Voice Podcast or read the rest here . Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe to City Voice and share with your friends.