Thanks for the post.
I think I prefer your word Empathy to Understanding because it implies feeling the needs of the other person. I've been married for almost 25 years and without empathy I think the marriage would have been doomed.
I prefer empathy to Understanding because I do my best to be empathetic with my wife....but after 25 years I don't think I'll actually understand her. She can be weird sometimes..then again she says I'm weird too. Just weird in a good way :)
Thanks for writing.
Honestly, i wanted to pick empathy is a virtue everyone should have but it involves a lot including understanding so i picked understanding and focused on it.
wow you must have a beautiful marriage in the 25years you have lived together and i know because you understand her with your empathetic heart you're still together in love. thanks for sharing