Happy New Year, or is it?

The total number of days between Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 and Tuesday, December 31st, 2013 is1,483 days.

This is equal to exactly 4 years and 22 days.

This does not include the end date, so it’s accurate if you’re measuring your age in days, or the total days between the start and end date.  But if you want the duration of an event that includes both the starting date and the ending date, then it would actually be1,484 days.

1,483 days is equal to 211 weeks and 6 days.

The total time span from 2009-12-09 to 2013-12-31 is 35,592 hours

This is equivalent to2,135,520 minutes.

You can also convert 1,483 days to128,131,200 seconds.

Today is 12/31/2013 and 12/9/2009 is exactly 1483 days before today.

I was curious as to how many days have gone by since D-Day.  I can’t remember what I ate for breakfast this morning, but I can conger up D-Day like it was yesterday, although I rarely do.  That probably explains my lack of posting this year.  It has been quite some year.  Or years.  

As New Year’s Eve approaches, I look back on 2013 for a brief review.  Some of the momentous things that have happened:

1.  I stayed at my last job for more than a year and made a couple of really good friends

2.  I started a job in the field in which I trained and was educated but left when my first child was born, almost 20 years ago.

3.  I got engaged to my BF/xMM in April 2013.

4.  My youngest child started high school.

5.  BF’s xW got engaged to her BF.

Who would have thought this year would have turned out this way 1483 days ago.  Don’t get me wrong – there are still some big issues but the affair has receded in everyone’s minds.  In fact, BF’s mother who villified me, now calls me for my thoughts, tells me I am a good influence on her grandchildren and sends me birthday cards.  Ironically, she opted to close her Facebook account rather than ‘unfriend’ the xW because she didn’t want to “hurt her feelings.”  Hmmmmm, really?  I guess some things will continue to surprise me.

As for being engaged, I’m not interested in it.  We still live in different states, 3-4 hours apart.  He still has a shitty visitation schedule and is incapable of changing it, so at most, we have 3 consecutive evenings together before he or I have to make the drive/ride/flight.  It’s disruptive to my life, seeing my friends, and feels a bit alienating lately.  We’re trying to “figure it out” but in a few more years, it will have resolved itself when my younger kid leaves for college.  The bigger issue is his kids – they are not nice, not considerate, not polite, not decent and know how to play their parents and adults in their lives.  I am at the end of my rope; BF is close and their mother doesn’t really care what they do or who they do it with as long as it’s not with us.  Too bad for them.  I have offerred to take them to the theater, to the museums, to shows and concerts but they would rather play x-box or stalk on Instagram.  They have no friends and don’t care.  Their mother takes them nowhere, expects nothing of them and her BF talks about trade school for his own kids, which she now tells her own is good enough for them.  Poor BF.  How he agonizes over this.  While I don’t blame him, I told him – they didn’t become this way overnight.  They have had their entire lives to become this way – including pre-divorce, when the issues were already there.

As for the future – we never really know, do we?  We don’t have a wedding date set.  Why would we?  BF’s daughter shared with me that her mother bought a wedding dress the same week she got engaged but hasn’t told her BF.  Funny how she continues to prove me right:  she cares more about being married, than who she is married to.  Yet BF/xMM felt guilty when his marriage ended, yet his xW never said “I love you and you broke my heart.”  She said “No one has ever broken up with me before.”  She was posting bikini pictures on Match.com (a subscription paid for by her mother) 3 weeks after her birthday trip to the Carribean (when she couldn’t be happier!) and saying she thought a divorce was best until 2 weeks later, when she was bemoaning her dating pool of men 10+ years older than she and xMM’s pool of  late 20-early 30 somethings, when in reality it was only me – 6 years older than xW and 1 1/2 older than BF/xMM.  So she’s engaged to a guy who in jest holds a knife to his own son’s throat, yells at her kids and is happy to make her his 3rd wife.  He’s happy to no longer have to rent a shitty little apartment in a crappy neighborhood and hold down 2 jobs to pay child support to his 3 kids and soon to be grandchild of his eldest, unmarried, waitress daughter.  But he is only 7 years older than xW.  And he hasn’t hit her.  Yet.  No matter how attractive she tries to make her life, how thin she gets, whatever trips she takes, at no point would I ever have switched places with her.  She doesn’t seem to get that either.

So, as we usher in 2014, I’m pleasantly surprised at how this year has turned out, where I am 4 years later and for the first time in a long time, I’m whistful about saying good-bye to 2013, but happily looking forward to the future.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

 

Another blog – Whyhaveanaffair – and its impact

I have been following, albeit intermittently, another blog – whyhaveanaffair. It has been incredibly interesting and illuminaating. It is written by a MM who had an affair, with comments by his W. They are working to repair and keep their marriage. There is another blogger who comments often, betrayalsurvivor1981, on this blog and she has raised some very interesting points to me that I would like to post here – full credit to her, to the other bloggers and whyhaveanaffair’s blog.

As most of my readers know, I spent a lot of time wondering what my xMM’s W was thinking immediately after d-day. This blog answers a lot of those questions. But the posting on “hysterical bonding” rocked my world. I didn’t understand it. I spent a lot of time ruminating whether MM and his W were sleeping together/having sex, after d-day and if so, why would SHE do it, how could HE do it. I also understand that all affairs are different, just as people are different, situations are different and while we can find comfort and education in other people’s trials and tribulations, we need to learn from our singular mistakes, triumphs, heartbreaks and loves.

I would like to share my exchanges with the bloggers as I found their insights quite poignant – and of course I would love to respond. 🙂

The posting was “Hysterical bonding”:
ME:Thanks, betrayalsurvivor1981 and mr and mrs. Yes, my “about me” is outdated. I haven’t thought to change it. The blog is always evolving, just like me. I think that the writing/blogging helps get through some sticky, unhappy times. Betrayalsurvivor – I’m so intrigued by your moniker, your comments. I would be very interested in hearing your story.How you came to where you are now. You are right. My xMM is now my BF – or at least we are now publically a couple after all of the years of being hidden. I’m sure that our story is not much different than the story of Mr.’s friend who married his AP. Sometimes marriages are irretrievably broken but no one walks away until something forces the issues. Like pergatory. We can all drift there forever. There are a million reasons why people have affairs, why those affairs end, perpetuate, fizzle, explode or morph into something more, or die. Do not judge unless you walk a mile in that person’s shoes. Easier said than done, right? And don’t forget that the blogging is a snapshot. Not everyone writes everything. It is a place to vent. Am I happy? Am I satisfied? Am I a villain? A hero? A good person or bad? All of the above to a mullitude of people. But if you ask the questions, I would happily tell. We all hope to learn from each other. That’s why we are hear in the blogging world. Not to condemn. But to learn and for some catharsis. Yes, please read my blog. But understand that I too bleed, hurt, love, care and didn’t go into an affair with the hopes of destroying anyone’s marriage. And my last thought of the day, it is alway easier to make the “Other” woman/man the villain, yet we are not the ones who took the vows; we are not the ones who broke those vows. We are oftentimes not the crazies that the Married man/woman portray us to be, yet we are often the scapegoats. You know why? Because the BS doesn’t always want to know the truth or they really really want to believe their spouse. I KNOW what I did, how I behaved and I KNOW what my MM told his W. I KNOW the lies he told her. He asked me to corroborate them. He lied to his W after d-day telling her I called when I didn’t, telling her I emailed, texted when I didn’t. But my relationship was with him, not with her. The flaw in their marriage wasn’t me. It was between them and their inability to end their marriage and walk away after it had died (or rightlyfully before it had started.) Ask away. I have a milion questions for you!
Happy Valentine’s day!!

Reply
betrayalsurvivor1981 says:
February 14, 2013 at 11:58 pm
(“…I definitely appreciate more the ones from supportive people like yourself. We feel like you’re a friend (albeit at a distance !) and we both appreciate your support and friendship.”) – from whyhaveanaffair 2/9/13
Because of this “cyber-friendship,” I feel comfortable responding to Susan on your blog, Mr. and Mrs. B (as I haven’t started my own blog – yet).
___________________________________
From Susan: (“Betrayalsurvivor – I’m so intrigued by your moniker, your comments. I would be very interested in hearing your story. How you came to where you are now.”)
Susan, firstly I want to thank you for your interest in my story. EVERY human being on the face on this planet has a right to his/her opinions & beliefs. Therefore, I want to assure you in advance that my post is NOT aimed to try and vilify you. However, my beliefs and opinions – like yours – are ROCK SOLID and FIRM! Buckle your seatbelts, sweetheart, because this is going to be a bumpy ride.

I am an African American grandma. In 1981 my physically and mentally abusive serial-cheating husband deserted his family. On every DDay prior to the final affair that resulted in his leaving, I received from him the usual begging and pleading for my forgiveness, and promises that he would spend the rest of his life making it up to me. After fathering an OC (a baby girl) with one of his affair partners, he left me for yet another affair partner (not the OC’s mother) whom he later married. He left me pregnant with our third child (a girl), as well as our 2-years-old and 1-year-old sons. Having EXTREMELY low self-esteem at that time in my life (and therefore not realizing that I was actually better off for him leaving), I was absolutely devastated and ashamed. (My parents were happily and solidly married for nearly forty years until my father died in 1995, and divorce made me feel like the “black sheep” of the family [no pun intended]. My mother is also now deceased.)

Despite all the negative things that had occurred in my marriage, I loved the ground my husband walked on, and I literally wanted to die after he abandoned us. In fact, I attempted suicide when my husband abandoned us, and it landed me in the hospital for over a week. Although my devastating grief could maybe EXPLAIN such a reckless act, NOTHING can ever EXCUSE it – mainly because I was PREGNANT! (She is now a very healthy 31-yr-old businesswoman. ) When I think of the damage my selfish act could’ve done to my unborn child, even though I survived the suicide attempt; as well as the devastating legacy I would’ve foisted upon our 2 baby sons had my attempt succeeded – all because of my heartache over my children’s serial-cheating father, coupled with my excessively low self-esteem – I am STILL ashamed to this day and will never COMPLETELY forgive myself! However, I am now a “tough-as-nails” BETRAYAL SURVIVOR, and sincerely GRATEFUL to have lived to see my 4 (so far) grandkids!

As a divorced mother I worked full time as an administrative assistant and raised my kids. They are now 31, 33 and 34; all have attended college; my sons are married with children of their own; my daughter is an unmarried (by her choice) and childless businesswoman (“you go, girl!” ); and all of them are successful. My three children’s half-sister (the OC) is a magnificent woman who is 32 and married with an adorable son, and my children love and have been very close to their sister for many years. She’s also one of my Facebook “friends.” (Twenty years ago her mother called me and apologized for having slept with my husband, and I accepted her apology. I NEVER blamed my children’s sister, because human beings have absolutely no control over the circumstances of our births. The adultery was committed by her father and mother, NOT by the innocent child!)

Although my children love their father (of course they do, because he is their father, after all, and always will be), they have told me (AND him) several times through the years that they DON’T RESPECT him, due to his past behavior toward me and his betrayal and abandonment of me AND them. My children have told me (AND their father) that they love AND respect me, and hold me in high regard for how I survived the life-shattering heartbreak and calamity that was forced upon me by their father’s actions back then.

It wasn’t easy raising three children alone by a long shot (I remarried after they were grown), but with God’s grace those childrearing years were the very best times of my life! (BTW, my children’s father -– my ex-husband -– who left me for wife #2, is now with wife #4. Go figure.)
____________________________________
Susan, I’m a church pastor’s daughter (my father is deceased), and a Christian. I said I’m a Christian – NOT Christ! I have so many faults you could fill an encyclopedia with them! Absolutely NO human being – those who have lived on this earth and are no longer alive; those of us who are currently alive; and those who have yet to be born – are perfect! (For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23) I’m a firm believer that people have a right to live our lives as we see fit – so long as we do not encroach upon someone’s else’s life – which is EXACTLY what affairs do!

From Susan: (“But understand that I…didn’t go into an affair with the hopes of destroying anyone’s marriage.”)
This is an example of what separates adults from children. “I didn’t MEAN to do it, Mommy,” (when a child has been caught in wrongdoing); “I never intended for anybody to get hurt, Pops,” (when a child’s folly causes harm in ways the child could have never foreseen); is behavior that is – childish. As adults, we are responsible for our actions, and adults know that engaging in extramarital affairs is wrong. Therefore, any pain and devastation that occur – directly or indirectly – related to an affair is the fault of BOTH the CH/CW AND the OW/OM!

From Susan: (“…It is always easier to make the “Other” woman/man the villain, yet we are not the ones who took the vows; we are not the ones who broke those vows.”)
This is a common “AP” fallacy that must be addressed. There is no way ANYONE involved in an affair has “clean hands.” The OW who has an EA/PA/BOTH with a MM is with someone who DOESN’T belong to her; and the OM who has an EA/PA/BOTH with a MW is with someone who DOESN’T belong to him. It doesn’t matter that the AP didn’t take vows with the Betrayed Spouse. It doesn’t matter that the marriage had vulnerabilities, as EVERY marriage has vulnerabilities. That doesn’t give the CH/OW or CW/OM carte blanche to be with each other! If the owners of a house, for example, are away and the front/back/garage door has been left unlocked, any person who enters that house unauthorizedly will be guilty of a felony, punishable by law. It doesn’t matter that the house was vulnerable. If a car is parked anywhere, unlocked and even with the keys in the ignition, any person who enters that car unauthorizedly and drives away is guilty of felony. It doesn’t matter that the car was vulnerable. People argue that other PEOPLE don’t BELONG to anybody. As a Christian, my beliefs dispute that argument based on 1 Corinthians 7:3-4: “A husband should give to his wife her sexual rights, and likewise a wife to her husband. It is not the wife who has the rights to her own body, but the husband. In the same way, it is not the husband who has the rights to his own body, but the wife.”

From Susan: (“We are oftentimes not the crazies that the Married man/woman portray us to be, yet we are often the scapegoats. You know why? Because the BS doesn’t always want to know the truth or they really really want to believe their spouse.”)
There is something that I firmly disagree with: the tendency for ONLY the OW to be branded as the homewrecker! BOTH the CH AND the OW, or the CW AND the OM, are EQUAL homewreckers! The MM wrecked his own home, and his AP participated in it. The MW wrecked her own home, and her AP participated in it. As for the BS not wanting to know the truth: Seriously, Susan? “Other” women are NOTORIOUS for believing ANYTHING the MM says about his Wife, even though – in MOST cases – the OW has NEVER EVER met the W personally! What married man is going to walk up to a woman and say, “Hey baby, I’m deeply in love with my wife, we have a great sex life, and I’m never going to leave her for any THING, any BODY, or any REASON. But, you sure look good to me, Sugar. How about giving me some of that?” That man will find himself picking up his teeth after being slapped into next week by the woman he propositioned in that ridiculous manner. Married Men know EXACTLY the time-worn clichés that work with Other Women, and OWs continue to fall for the lies every single day!

From Susan: (“I KNOW what I did, how I behaved and I KNOW what my MM told his W. I KNOW the lies he told her. He asked me to corroborate them. He lied to his W after d-day telling her I called when I didn’t, telling her I emailed, texted when I didn’t. But my relationship was with him, not with her.”)
You’re right about that, Susan, your relationship was/is with him – a LIAR and a CHEAT (by your own description above). He did NOT stop being a liar and a cheat when the divorce papers were signed. Please don’t fool yourself, Susan. (I have read your ENTIRE blog, by the way.)

From Susan: (“It was between them and their inability to end their marriage and walk away after it had died [or rightfully before it had started].”)
Who has the right to decide if “rightfully” a marriage should not have started? What about if a mass killer should have “rightfully” been born? Should Adolf Hitler, Timothy McVeigh, Aileen Wuournos, Charles Manson, or Adam Lanza (to name a VERY VERY few) “rightfully” should not have been conceived and born because of the murder and absolute devastation their existence would cause? The “that marriage should never have happened in the first place” is yet another argument used to justify and affair, and it DOESN’T HOLD WATER.

I honor marriage and I detest divorce, whether affair-related or not. However, I am fully aware that there ARE times when divorce is the BEST thing for the wife and/or husband in a doomed marriage. (Please see my comments on the blog of “Bad Husband” http://www.affairturmoil.wordpress.com ) Although I didn’t realize it over thirty years ago, through the years I HAVE realized that my divorce from my first husband ended up being the BEST thing to have happened to me AND our children with regard to my marriage, because, as I stated above, he was also PHYSICALLY abusive. Who knows when one of his beatings may have resulted in serious injury or even death to me or to one of our children?

Reply
betrayalsurvivor1981 says:
February 15, 2013 at 1:59 am
(My comment is continuing here, Susan, because I was granted more time on this computer. The “gods” are looking out for me today! )

There certainly ARE marriages that have “died” and need to be buried. But, it is COWARDLY for the husband and/or wife in that “dead” marriage to enter into an extramarital affair with someone WITHOUT FIRST HAVING OBTAINED A DIVORCE! Married men are NOTORIOUS for “having their cake and eating it, too.” They want “out” of their “unhappy” marriages, yet MOST of them are the first ones on their knees on DDay, begging and pleading for the wife’s forgiveness, and promising to high heaven that they will spend the rest of their lives making it up to the wife. Often, it is the Betrayed Spouse who decides that she (or he, if the cheater was the wife) can no longer live with someone who committed the most egregious offense possible against their spouse. (From your “Time is of the Essence” 2/8/13 post: “But my BF/xMM stayed after HIS affair was discovered, to try and work things out. I can’t help but ruminate from time to time, what would have happened if his wife hadn’t wanted to push for the divorce.”)

In closing, I’ll say this:
Susan, it is NEVER a CONTEST between the Wife and the Other Woman! Nobody “wins” when it comes to affairs. (From your “And the winner is” 1/6/10 post: “After all of this, you know what? He chose her. He didn’t choose me. So I guess she wins. What’s the prize? An emasculated, castrated unhappy man, in love with someone else for 3 years; fucking someone else for 2 1/2 years; sending her emails about loving her, missing her, wanting to be with her. Even if he doesn’t tell [his wife] everything or only tells her some of it, or shockingly lies about our affair, what is she thinking? What does she get? His honesty? His loyalty? His fidelity? His love? His companionship? Is she letting him sleep in her bed? In her house? Under her roof? Are they eating their meals together? Doesn’t she want to smack him? I do. What I really want to know is who wins? Her? MM? Me?”)

[Please read “Debunking the myths of infidelity: revisited” 12/29/12 @ http://www.rescuingmymarriage.wordpress.com

Susan says:
February 15, 2013 at 1:20 pm
Betrayalsurvivor1981 – Thank you so much for your response. I didn’t want you to think that I wouldn’t respond. I would like to give you the proper response, however, but US/east coast time is pushing me to work. Honestly, your story is one of strength and courage. And one I admire. I am a firm believe in the adage that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger and you certainly live it. I’ll be back. And I would certainly love to share your comments on my blog.

Reply
betrayalsurvivor1981 says:
February 16, 2013 at 5:15 pm
Thanks, Susan, for your quick “mini-response.” (I know you were on your way to work and that, of course, is a huge priority. We gotta pay our bills, right? ) Also, thank you for your statement concerning my story, and for honoring me with your request to share my comments on your blog.

I’m an “optimistic skeptic” (now THAT’S an oxymoron, if there ever was one!). I welcome the compliment of your using my comments on your blog, with the following requests (that I’m sure you already know, but being an “optimistic skeptic” I must say this anyway: please be sure to notate me as the author of any of my comments you use; and I ask that “creative editing” not be used when quoting me. (I studied journalism in college, and I know the “tricks of the trade.” )

Again, thank you for your interest, and I look forward to your “proper response” (as you worded it above).

———–
So – Holy cow! Some of the things that betrayalsurvivor said knocked me down. I don’t agree with everything, but it was certainly informative and from a completely different perspective from mine. And funny how we have some similarities in our stories. 😉
I had an affair for a selfish reason – it was something I needed at that time in my life. I was ending my marriage and craved physical and emotional intimacy with someone, anyone. My ex-husband was emotionally abusive so while my children and I do not have physical scars, we carry around the motional ones – not readily visible or easily discussed. It was hard to end my marriage after 17 years, and yes, my parents are still married after 50 years. It was what I thought marriage was about – a life long commitment to someone I loved, admired, respected and wanted to grow old with. Unfortunately, that wasn’t my ex. I probably never should have married him, but then I wouldn’t have my kids.

While betraylsurvivor quotes the bible and whose body belongs to whom, I find that beautiful in a perfect world. Unfortunately, most of us don’t live there. We live here. Sometimes in our own miserable hell. So what MM does/doesn’t do – his vows are not my vows. Yeah, if a MM tells an OW it’s just a fuck, likely she may not be “up” for it (pun intended), but there are plenty of OW/OM who don’t care. Do I believe that MM/MW are liars when they enter into affairs?? You betcha!! But then there are people who are weak, who are trapped – from every direction. Who can’t make a decision, an action without someone telling them, approving it. My MM should have ended his marriage for all the right reasons instead of because he had an affair. It was shitty for all concerned. And the ripple effect continues. Retribution, for sure.

A couple of months ago, I spent a long weekend with my BF/xMM and his parents – just the 4 of us. And if you’ve read all of my blog, then you know that his xW, made him call his parents after d-day, confess his affair, spend 2+ weeks with his parents in exile and then try to repair his broken marriage at the direction of his parents. xMM/BF and I have now been together, openly, for 3 years. It was time to address the elephant in the room. So I did. And BF’s mother said – that he believes and has consistently maintained that he and I are soul-mates. Yeah. Not so difficult. But a lousy way to start. I wish that we had met after he had divorced his xW, but perhaps without me, he never would have. Perhaps without me, he would have stayed in his emotionally abusive relationship with an asbergers narcissistic woman, solely responsible for the financial and emotional needs of his children. What a lousy way to live.

As to knowing he lied to xW – yeah, it concerns me. Once a liar, always a liar is a popular theory. But my BF isn’t Is there trust? Do I trust him? Yes, I do. If I don’t, then we have nothing. And to be fair, there are times when I don’t. I hate those moments. The re-reading the old emails, the chats; replaying the memories, the conversations, the feelings. And this time of year particularly galls me – as xW’s birthday has come and gone – It was after d-day, March, 2010 when he was telling me how much he loves me, needs me, misses me, wants to be with me and is going to separate from his xW after d-day, that he took her to the Carribean for her birthday, texting me all weekend that he was fighting a cold and getting lots of sleep. (The other day I was leafing through some books in his house and found the receipt for Bubba Gumps in Cancun, March 2010 and got pissed off all over again.)

Lastly, a lot of the MM/MW who have cheated haven’t had “love affairs.” They have had a physical indiscretion. I’m not saying one is better or worse. Being physicallly intimate with someone other than your spouse is difficult for the BS, but being emotially cheated on must be worse. So the spouse LOOKING for it, in my humble opinion, is worse than the one who isn’t. The spouse who falls in love or becomes emotionally attached to someone other than their spouse is in an entirely different category than the one night stand. But, like the rest of this blog, that’s just my opinion.

Don’t know why it took me so long to write, edit and post this entry. Been busy. With life. And the hurt and the anger, fade over time and are replaced by other feelings. And life has a regular rhythm – good, bad, ugly, beautiful. Thank goodness.

Time is of the Essence

I can’t believe that it is 2013.

Date difference from Dec 9, 2009 to Feb 7, 2013

The total number of days between Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 and Thursday, February 7th, 2013 is1,156 days.

This is equal to exactly 3 years, 1 month, and 29 days.

This does not include the end date, so it’s accurate if you’re measuring your age in days, or the total days between the start and end date.  But if you want the duration of an event that includes both the starting date and the ending date, then it would actually be1,157 days.

1,156 days is equal to 165 weeks and 1 day.

The total time span from 2009-12-09 to 2013-02-07 is 27,744 hours.

This is equivalent to 1,664,640 minutes.

You can also convert 1,156 days to 99,878,400 seconds.

Today is 2/7/2013 and 12/9/2009 is exactly 1156 days before today

D-Day to today.  An eternity.  3 years.  Yesterday.  A lifetime. A blink of an eye.  Life as you know it will never be the same.

And yet –

Life continues.  Just ask 2P, AOW, RBM and me.  3 years.  I can’t believe it.  Our lives have moved into a pattern.  The “high” of the affair is gone and has been replaced by “normalcy.”  We’ve had colds, the flu, lost jobs, gotten new jobs, fought, dealt with his kids, my kids, transitioned a kid to college, to high school, to middle school, through punishments, over-drafts, tax refunds, weight gain, weight loss, P90x, weight watchers, peri-menopause, menopause, his parents, my parents.

And yet –

There is the endless, acrimonious relationship with his ex W and my ex H.  The squabbling over vacation days, after school activities, cheerleading, trumpet lessons, karate, tutors, camp.  It never ends.  But I guess that’s what life is all about.

Or is it.

Sometimes I miss the affair.  The excitement, the passion, the secrecy.  Sometimes I wish I were alone.  Sometimes I wish I were with someone else.  Sometimes I wish I wasn’t responsible for another human being when I find it difficult enough to be responsible for myself, my kids and my dog.  Sometimes I wish my life had gone in a different direction.  In fact, often lately I’ve been wishing that.  Yes, I know that wishing doesn’t make it so, but there are days when I feel that’s all I have.   That, and a glass of wine.

Valentine’s day is coming soon.  I hate Valentine’s day with the expectations of love, flowers and chocolate.  Being with that perfect someone.  While xMM/BF and I are together, we still dont’ live together and haven’t been able to do anything about the distance.  This year I’m having a biopsy on February 13, so BF is coming to me on the 12th and leaving the morning of the 14th.  He wasn’t originally going to be with me those days as he has a conference in Florida.  He was supposed to have his kids from the 12th-13th.  But then I made the appointment.  So he started by telling me that my scheduling of the appointment wasn’t very convenient.  Are you kidding me???  Then he said that he would come to me after he took his kids to school (I’m a 3 1/2 hour drive and my appointment is at 8:30am.)  I told him not to come.  I don’t really want him here.  I didn’t ask him to come; I didn’t schedule my appointment for a “mutually convenient time” because I’m only concerned about what fits my schedule for this.  But we were going to be able to spend the 14th together.  Now he would like to go out to dinner on the 13th.  The night perpetually reserved for the OW or OM.  (And not to mention that my biopsy is going to last about 2- 2 1/2 hours in the morning and I may not be in a festive mood, plus I have my kid.)  So I’m a bit unhappy about this.  I know it sounds stupid and petulant but I was the OW for so long that either I celebrate this stupid Hallmark holiday ON THE DAY or I don’t.

BF has a married male friend, married 15 years.  He had an affair several years ago and has been on a dating web site for married people to meet and have an affair.  This friend’s wife had an affair many years ago.  The friend knows but never confronted her.  He’s unhappily married and would like to get a divorce after their kids leave the house.  The day before Thanksgiving, he found some texts on his wife’s phone from another man, and confronted her.  She’s been having an affair.  They’re going to get divorced.  Until they’re not.  Now he’s not sure; now he says, he loves his wife; now he says, those years of sexless living together were stressed induced; now he’s freezing his membership to the online dating site that his wife knows nothing about.  Now, I think he’s a fool.  Worse, my BF/xMM thinks he’s a fool.  REALLY???  Perhaps this is wrong of me, but I don’t think he has a leg to stand on.  He thinks the couple should get divorced – they hate each other and have for years, but the wife’s affair seems to be holding them together.  Until it doesn’t.  But my BF/xMM stayed after HIS affair was discovered, to try and work things out.  I can’t help but ruminate from time to time, what would have happened if his wife hadn’t wanted to push for the divorce.  I think this couple should get a divorce because they both want it, they are both unhappy and have both found happiness outside of their marriage.  Move on already.

Which brings me to my absolute and utter disbelief when I read that another blogger on this site, the first one I read and found comfort, advice, solace, compassion, understanding from, TV Explorer, was getting divorced.  His wife couldn’t take it anymore.  She couldn’t get past the affair no matter what.  WOW!  I was blown away.  I didn’t see that coming at all.  Or maybe, deep down it’s inevitable.  So maybe, even without the now ex W pushing for the divorce, it would have just eventually happened.   And maybe BF would be with someone else instead of me.  Maybe I wouldn’t have waited.  But isn’t that always what a good OW does?  She waits – for the hidden text, the secretive email, the hurried phone call, the last minute plans, celebrating holidays on the day before or the day after because the day of is reserved for the wife.

Happy Day Before Valentine’s Day.

Against All Odds and a little Q&A

The thing about affairs is that they end.  Whether the MM/MW stays with their spouse, leaves their spouse, whether the OW/OM leaves and moves on or whether the affair partners end up together.  Statistics show that if a MM/MW is going to leave their spouse, it will happen in the first 6 months.  If it doesn’t happen then, it is never going to happen.  Or is it?  And why would the betrayed spouse, if they ever find out about the affair, want to stay?  Why would the cheating spouse want to stay?  Why would the affair partner want the MM/MW to become their partner?  Don’t they think that “once a cheater always a cheater?”  And as I have been asked – how do you expect something good to grow from something that started out wrong.

All good questions.  Not a lot of answers.  I was physically involved with my MM from 7/2007 until 12/2009 when his wife found out about our affair.  I didn’t ask him to leave.  But I did buy those books about how to end an affair or at least stay in an affair without going crazy, recognizing that he’s never going to leave.  And not really wanting him to leave.  My early posts, after D-day waxed poetic about not wanting to be with him, not wanting him to leave is W for me, not wanting to take on all on his issues. 

And here I am.  Against all odds.  With my xMM – now boyfriend.  Yup.  What are the odds of that?  I was perhaps one of the few bloggers who felt a modicum of relief at d-day.  But my ego was insufferable.  Why didn’t he pick me?  Why? Why? Why?  Could none of you in cyber land reach through the computer and slap me across the face???  And you call yourselves my friends.  Ha!

So – here we are – almost 3 years after d-day.  Like any other unremarkable ‘couple.’  We fight, we hang out, we go to the movies, out to dinner, we are invited to weddings and other social occasions together.  But we still live in 2 different states.  We still aren’t married.  We still have separate health insurance policies.  We still don’t have a joint mortgage.  Will we?  I don’t know. Do I want that? I still don’t know.  Maybe, like the gambler I am, I’m hedging my bets.  Just in case. 

Some days the pain of d-day burns me.  I still, for whatever messed up reason, can’t let it go.  I need to know ever excruciating detail of that time we weren’t together, what he did, where he want, what he said, what his wife said, whether they were having sex, therapy, going out, to dinner, to parties, on trips.  When I get a chance to snoop I do it mercilessly – reading old emails – the ones that were “sent”, the chats, the old networking emails to/from anyone during that time we didn’t see each other, weren’t “allowed” to see each other.  Also known as “no contact”.  The no-contact didn’t last very long, although at the time it felt like forever.  D-day was 12/9/2009; we spoke on 1/21/2010, but had emailed/texted a few times in between.  Once we spoke on 1/21 it was fairly regular after that.  The emails he had with his W, didn’t mention that.  The chat’s he had with his W didn’t mention that.  He was so “excited” to have dinner with his W; so “happy” she was going with him on the business trip that he had asked me to go on (of course I said no, and she didn’t know); the chats back and forth were so sickeningly sweet, I wanted to throw up reading them.  And of course, the fact that they discussed me during those chats, those emails makes my blood boil. And he agreed with her – that I was the one that forced the relationship; that I was the one that begged him to continue seeing me and wouldn’t take “no” for an answer; that I was a gossip with a big mouth and would tell everyone about our “affair;” that I was the one that was needy, selfish, demanding and over the top.  Are you fucking kidding me?!?!?!?  I read some of these emails and chats recently and it has taken all of my self-control not to slap the shit out of him.  But then I remember, that was 2 years ago.  And he was deciding what to do, how to proceed.  Grrrrrrrrrr.  And even after he and I had seen each other, after he and his wife decided to get divorced, he was worried about . . . what???? If he was doing the right thing.  Damn.  To see those emails, makes me nuts.  It’s like those stupid law and order tv shows – when the judge tells the jury to disregard what they’ve heard the witness say.  Are you kidding me??  Once you hear it, you can’t un-hear it.  Once you read it, you can’t unread it.  Once you know something, you can’t un-know it. 

I hate that I know what I know.  And all we ever talked about, blogged about was – I wish I knew.  Ignorance is bliss. 

Here are the questions and the answer that we all so desperately want after d-day:

1. What are they talking about it?  You!  It is always you, even when it’s not you, you’re the “elephant” in the room.
2. Why did the W or H take them back?  They were frozen in time, thinking: how did this happen? How did we get here? Who are you? How am I going to tell my family, his/her family, friends, co-workers?  Do I want to tell them? Do I have to take any responsibility for how we got here or can I blame my wayward spouse? How can I afford our home on my salary? Do I want to get divorced? Can I get passed hating you?  Hating the OW/OM?  Better yet, I’m going to blame everything on the OW/OM and the wayward spouse.
3. Are they sleeping together?  Yes
4. Having sex?  Yes.
5. Is it good?  Not really, but they are going to fake their way back into it.  And worse, the betrayed spouse doesn’t want him/her touching her.  But they are going to fuck away the memories of the OW/OM.  Too bad it doesn’t work that way.  Why?  Because once you’re in the affair, it’s more than the sex.  That’s why the sex is so great.
6. Is your MM/MW telling their spouse that they are calling you?  No.  In fact, they are saying that you are dogging them, wont leave them alone and that they keep asking you to respect that request to leave them to work on the mess they’ve created.
7. Are they happy?  Ha ha ha.  Unless they are without conscience, no they are not.  Are they struggling to find themselves again?  Yes, they are.

My xMM wrote to his W that he had “done a stupid thing” and was very sorry.  Yeah, a stupid thing is leaving the milk on the counter over night, not a 3 year long affair.  He sent an “apology” email to his mother-in-law asking her for forgiveness.  (Was he fucking her too?) I loved reading that one.  

I wonder, as I sit here, that the lies flowed so easily from my xMM/BF to his w for more than 3 years, that he was able to “cover his tracks” for over 3 years, that if given the opportunity, would he do the same thing to me?  Could he do the same thing to me?  I recently came across an email that he had sent to a woman that I questioned their relationship/friendship (I blogged about it).  The email was in the “trash” folder.  The knowledge festered in my brain until I confronted him.  (I was on his computer, helping him with a legal matter, deleted my memo and had to go into the “trash” folder to retrieve it.  Wow!  What a lot of information is in there.)  When I asked him whether he would have told me about it had I not seen it, he said “no”.  Hmmmm, a lie by omission is as much a lie.  Needless to say, I was a bit shaken.  I didn’t care that she had contacted him (well, a little), or that he had responded back (well, a little.)  What sent me into a rage was that he hadn’t told me she had contacted him and would have continued to lie to me.  It felt like he was hiding her from me, the way he hid me from is w.  Not that extreme, but you get the point.  Once a liar . . .

So, ask yourself, when you’re wondering about would have, could have, should have and what if’s, do you feel lucky?  Well do you, punk?

Valentine’s Day Rantings and Ramblings

I hate Valentine’s Day.  What bullshit.  Another Hallmark holiday designed to make every single person feel inadequate.  What they show on the TV is fiction; what you read about in books, is fiction.  The forced joviality, the forced romantic behavior, the flowers, the cards, the candy.  And how horrible you are supposed to feel if you’re not a recipient.

This, however sums it up for me:

“Unless it is mad, passionate, extraordinary love, it is a waste of time.  There are too many mediocre things in life.  Love should not be one of them.”

Isn’t that what happened in the affair?  Isn’t that we are all looking for?  If there isn’t that passion, then what’s the point?  But it’s not b-movie passion.  It’s the passion of life – of love making, of talking, of sleeping, of fighting and then making up.  A friend of mine once said that sick babies don’t cry and sick relationships are quiet.  She was right.

On February 13 a  friend of mine posted the following on FB  2/13: “I just wanna give a big shout out to all the ladies who can’t call their “boyfriend” after 7. Can’t visit him at work unless they call 2 days in advance. Or don’t even know his home phone number. Today is your day.”  I called him today to chat, and he proceeded to tell me that there is even a restaurant in my neighborhood that specializes in pre- Valentine’s day dinners for the OW/OM with clear instructions not to say anything to the guests should they return the following day, Valentine’s day, wearing their wedding bands, with their spouse. 

In February, I didn’t see my BF/xMM for all 4 weeks – because our work/life/children schedules had collided.  It put a strain on me.  I was angry about it.  The longest time that we went without seeing each other was after no-contact/d-day – from 12/9-3/18.  So I ruminate.  I wish I could flip a switch and turn my stupid brain off.  Right now I’m angry that he lives far away; I’m angry that he has an inconvenient visitation schedule; I’m angry that he’s traveling for work.  I’m just about ready to explode.  So I did.  My back went out.  It was bound to happen.  My chiropracter has a very hollistic approach to health & wellness and she looked at me yesterday and said, “that was the straw that broke your back.”  There is only so much you can continue to carry around.  I sat in her office and cried.  I’m feeling sorry for myself and can’t shake it.

The worst part about being in a relationship, is that you tend to take out your ugliest feelings on the people closest to you.  Damn, I’ve been a bitch, a bear, a misery.  I can’t get out of my own way.  I’ve always been an optimist but for the first time in my life, I’m seeing the glass as half empty, and rapidly emptying. 

March has been a bit better, but not by much.  I laid into BF/xMM a couple of weeks ago (again) when I told him that when I see him all he does is complain he’s tired.  (Not too tired for sex, but for everything else.)  I told him that he manages to travel and entertain for work and stay out late, but when he’s with me, we cook or order in and go to the movies.  I’ve seen more movies in the past 6 months than in the past 40+ years!  I lost my shit and told him that he treats me like . . . drumroll please . . . like his wife (or worse – like his ex-wife.)  That was a slap in the face.  (2P and RBM – can you think of anything more insulting? or numbing?)  Isn’t that a slap across the face?  It was fairly ferocious on my part.  I haven’t made plans to go out with friends, buy tickets for anything because I don’t want to hear him complain.  It infuriates me!  And worse.  Makes me want to . . .   You know the rest.

Be careful what you wish for.  You just might get it.

Just needed to vent.  Reach out.  Pour a drink and do some reading.  I have a long evening ahead of me.

D-Day + 3 +730 days

733 Days

= 17592 Hours
= 1055520 Minutes
= 63331200 Seconds

 It has been 2 years and 3 days since my D-Day of December 9, 2009.  I remember every single second of it, like childbirth.  Where I was, what I was doing, the blood pounding in my head and throughout my body, and how time stood still.  It was like a slow motion movie, where life continued on around me, but I was frozen, in my own cocoon.  Part of the picture yet completely removed.  I remember coming across another blogger who had put a clock app on his iPhone (RBM 🙂 ) that showed how much time had elapsed since he had entered the realm of no-contact; and another blogger (AOW) who had a running calendar of days since d-day, no contact, last kiss, etc.  I felt that I was ‘healing’ when I could no longer remember those critical days and the amount of time that had elapsed.  After all, we say that time heals all wounds.  But does it?  Do you ever forget?  I remember asking another blogger (TVExplorer) if you ever really get over it and he simply replied that you think about it less and less.  Not really the answer I was looking for.  And who would have thought that 733 days after my d-day I would have the answer. 

This time of year depresses me.  I think it always had.  The forced joviality, happiness, togetherness.  The expectations put on making everything “just so” with family and friends.  Nothing ever lives up to those expectations or re-adjusted childhood memories.  Does Disney have a license on brainwashing?  I was one of the “lucky ones” that had d-day further ruin my December holiday time.  My xMM’s w called me on 12/9 to share with me her new found knowledge; xMM called me on 12/14 to tell me of his exile and then we silently slipped into no-contact.  Holiday parties, Christmas, xMM’s birthday – all came and went – with no-contact.  And that was 2 years ago. 

What I learned after the fact still hurts me and still makes me angry.  xMM wrote a confessional letter to his w about all of the horrible things he did (me) and how much he loved her, their life, how much he needed her, and would work tirelessly to restore her trust in him; how MM was the one who blocked me from his Facebook page, his cell phone, his home phone, his other social networking sites (but, he would whine, that he didn’t have a choice); how MM was berated over and over, but was “allowed” to return to the loving fold of his w on 12/26, his birthday; the marriage counseling, the trip to the Caribbean, staying in the hotel he and I always stayed in . . . The list seems to go on and on and on. 

Why can’t I let it go?  There are days when I’m fine and I don’t think about anything having to do with the past, and then . . .**THWACK** something reminds me (like Christmas) and the pain, anger and hurt are there again.

This will be our second “outed” December together.  Last year, xMM went to Florida with his kids, to his parents’ house.  I was only allowed to meet them for a quick bite the day before they left.  MM wanted everything to be “just right” and once again, took all of the advice as to how to make that happen from others.  This year, we’re going to spend Christmas and his birthday together – all of us – kids included – at his house.

We had talked about “the tree” this year.  One of the symbols of his married life that haunted me and over which I would obsess.  Did they buy the tree, did they decorate the tree, was it a perfect little family time fit for a Hallmark card all the while he would text me, call me, email me.  This year his children were hurt that their mother (now the x-W) bought a tree without them, but with her new BF.  I spoke to my BF/xMM and offerred to join them for the tree buying, decorating escapade and xMM didn’t say anything to me until this past Friday, that they were going tree shopping on Sunday, which they did.  Needless to say, I was hurt.  I don’t want to speak to him.  So I haven’t.  The fucking tree.  Now I’m going to hate the fucking tree because I’m so good at transferrance.

So 2 years, 0 months and 3 days after D-day, the answer is . . . drumroll, please . . .

To Delete or Not Delete? That is the Question

I haven’t written for quite some time.  I have continued to read (AOW, 2P, RBM, SS, Morgan, etc.)  I have been most taken by the comments and blogs that relive the affair, d-day, no-contact, recovery, failure, and on the cycle goes.  The ‘aha’ moment came for me when someone wrote that the writing causes us to continually relive the pain and prevents us from moving on and away.  Likewise, in order to get past the pain, we need to relive it and all of the unanswered and unanswerable questions that we have.

Unlike so many of my blogging friends, I have been unable to delete the old emails or shut down the pseudonym accounts.  I have not been able to delete the ‘saved chats’ that Google stores up.  I have not been able to throw away the hand written, but unsent, letters to MM during the period of no-contact.  I never shut down my blog and on occasion, I read my old posts.

Unlike so many of my blogging friends, my MM and his w are divorced and he and I are a “couple.”  It has been almost 2 years (22 days shy of the full 2 years) since that D-Day, December 9, 2009 – since I got the email from MM’s W saying “Hi – I know about you and my husband.”  It has been a long road.  MM and I talked at length, about my need to get past the pain of no-contact, about his efforts to “work on his marriage” during that time, taking his w to mexico for her birthday, to his company’s holiday party, to posting pictures of her on his Facebook page while telling me he loved me, needed me, wanted to be with me but that I should be patient.  There are times when my anger, to this day, is larger than life, and all I want to do is beat him up – so I yell, storm off, get sullen.  And he lets me.  He says he understands. 

What I have learned from MM is that when caught between a rock and a hard place, most MM will retreat into the familiar, the comfort zone rather than jump off a cliff.  The fear that no one will be standing there waiting to catch them is paralyzing.  When I asked my ex-H for a divorce, I came to the realization that I would rather be alone and poor for the rest of my life than spend one more minute with him.  And mind you, we had a perfectly comfortable life – 2 homes, 2 beautiful children in private school, 3 cars, luxurious vacations several times a year, savings accounts, material objects galore.  Yet I wasn’t happy.  It didn’t make me happy.  It was financially comfortable, but ever day I woke up I felt like I had sold my soul.  I wasn’t happy.  I wasn’t getting any younger.  I wasn’t setting a good example for my children.  I was a lousy role model.  The discomfort had to end.  And so I ended it.  MM could have stayed in his loveless, sexless, miserable marriage forever.  It was comfortable.  (Sound familiar 2P?)  As a funny anecdote, MM, a/k/a my boyfriend and I were having a silly disagreement and I offhandedly told him that if he continued what he was doing there would be no sex.  To which he replied that was no threat, in fact he could go years without it and had the history to prove it.  While that was funny, it was also quite telling and ultimately very sad.  Why would anyone want to live like that?

I have a dear friend who is dying of cancer.  It is heartbreaking to watch the disease eat this vibrant, beautiful woman up leaving little more than a shell.  We were out to lunch and she was telling me about what a burden her husband has become and how incapable he is of taking care of her, helping her, supporting her.  He doesn’t even go with her to doctor appointments.  He’s not working.  He has locked himself in the master bedroom; she sleeps downstairs.  He wont cook, clean or help with the household.  She spends as much time out of the house as possible – going to the gym, out to the lunch, to the movies, out of town, with friends.  I asked her why she doesn’t tell her H to get out.  The fire burned in her eyes when she told me that she has told him to get out, that she filed for divorce 2 times, but didn’t follow through, and as she looked at me across the table told me she would rather be alone than have him in her home but is now too weak to move him out.  Of course I offered to pack his shit and throw him out for her.  She laughed and said he was too heavy for me.  I told her to come to me and my older kid offered to give up her room for her.  She’s not going to leave now.  But how sad for her.  She doesn’t get a do-over at the end, to be happy.

BF (f/k/a MM) and I were having dinner a couple of weeks ago.  We were talking about his kids, his ex-w and a problem at school.  He stopped and said that most people refer to the “fog of the affair” yet when he reviews his life to date, he feels that the fog was his marriage – his self-deception was his life with his ex-W.  It is difficult for him to come these realizations; the musings frighten him.  He punishes himself for losing those years and wonders what he was thinking.  His ex-W has been wonderfully obliging – consistently proving him right.  She has trespassed on his property (having his landlord open the door to his house so she could find “some papers”); she forged his name on legal documents; she refuses to take her kids to therapist appointments, help them with their homework, encourage attendance at school.  She has proved him right at every turn.  He has told me horrible stories of her past behavior when they were married.  – She was fired from a job when she was pregnant, yet never revealed the reason.  Imagine how egregious her actions must have been that a company believed they had a stronger case in firing her, than a pregnant woman would have against her former employers.  (Needless to say she never sued them.) – She changed a neighbor’s home listing on-line, never telling them, giving her an ‘edge’ in the marketplace.  The stories are incredible.  Yet, if it weren’t for me, for our ‘affair’, he would have done nothing.  He just simply shut himself down.

We had dinner with some of his college friend his past summer.  They live in Germany now.  The wife said some very interesting things.  She said that no one liked MM’s ex-W yet didn’t want to say anything to him – after all, it was his choice, they were his friends and they would support him (or not).  The second thing was that when she heard he had an affair she thought – good for him and that he’s really not capable of having an affair, whoever the AP is, means more than that to him.  MM/BF was stunned.  Everyone but him knew about his ex-W, but no one told him; everyone knew that he wasn’t capable of having affair yet he believes that he was wrong.  Worse, was that he was weak and would have done nothing to extricate himself from a life in which he was simply going through the motions.

So, almost 2 years after d-day, BF and his kids are coming to my town to celebrate Thanksgiving with me and my kids. 

Now, if only I could hit that stupid delete button.

Hello out there . . .

Where the hell is everyone?!?!?!?!  It’s awfully quiet out there in cyber-space.  Is that a good thing or a bad thing???

Happily ever after. . . What the . . .?

As a single mother, I find that I have a different perspective on things.  What I want, what I am willing to settle for, what I need, what I want for my children.  While these seem like basic things, when you do them alone, all the time, they take on different importance.

I always felt, and certainly always told my friends, that even when I was married, I was a single mother.  I worked a full time job (outside the home), and then had to deal with the kids – homework, baths, cleaning up their rooms,  food shopping, making dinner, laundry, doctor’s appointments, dentist appointments, lessons, after school activities.  The list was endless.  Except when it wasn’t.  When a bulb blew out in the kitchen, my ex-husband would run to the store to get a new one and change it.  (Of course he was eager to get out of the house so he could get high in the car.  Did he really think that I couldn’t smell it?)  When the car insurance was due, he would pay it.  When the pipe in the kitchen leaked, he would get a plumber.  When there was no milk at 11:00 pm, he would run to the store to buy a carton.  (See light bulb excuse.)  But all that notwithstanding, that meant that I didn’t have to do it.  Maybe being responsible for 99.99% was difficult, but there are days when being responsible for 100% is close to impossible.

I spent last Sunday with my younger daughter and a friend of mine going shopping.  I can’t afford to buy anything for anyone since I am now starting my 8th month of unemployment despite all efforts to get a job and starting my own business has been rough going, to say the least.  But child number 2 needed new sneakers, a dress, and generally some things to make her feel normal.  My girlfriend picked us up from the train station and en route to the outlet mall (where else) she called her husband to remind him to go food shopping.  She had left the list on the counter, but needed to add a case of Gatorade.  The call was on speaker and they discussed what he would buy for dinner and perhaps grill when she got home.  Hmmm, dinner was not even on my radar at 11:45am.  She hung up with her husband, looked at me with tears in her eyes, bemoaning the plight of being a single mother and how hard SHE has it.  HUH???  It’s a good thing I love her or I might be writing this post from jail, although I’m hard pressed to believe that a true jury of my peers (SINGLE MOTHERS) would ever convict me.  I tried to tell her that as difficult as she thought she had things, she has a job and she has a partner, someone willing to help out, maybe not to the extent she wanted, but from my vantage point, any help is a lot of help.  She complained about the fact that if she hadn’t written the shopping list, he wouldn’t know what to buy.  (So what?!?!?!)  That if she didn’t tell him which store to go to, he would go to the “other one.”  (Again, so what?!?!?!)  That, worst of all, if she didn’t call in an hour, he would be taking a nap and get to the store late.  (Really?  That’s worth complaining about??  He’s going to make sure he gets to the store because he certainly doesn’t want to incur her wrath.) 

On the up-side, she has his co-parenting (he was one the that took their kid to their afternoon game so she could go shopping); she has his pay check (directly deposited into their joint checking account); she has help around the house (as limited as she might think it is); she has his company at night, on weekends, on vacations, at the soccer field, at the parent teacher conferences, when she’s sick, on her birthday, etc., etc.  And yet . . . she complains often.  And seems unhappy in her marriage.  And talks about the lack of sex.   Crying over lunch the other day, she told me that at least she has her husband, who loves her and will never leave her.  How does she know that?  Why is she so confident of that?  I was surprised.  And a bit jealous.  Happily ever after is not what it sounds like to me.

Things with my ex-MM/BF have been pretty good lately – normal, almost.  The distance is difficult sometimes, the same stupid issues pop up and out of my mouth, but what I’ve come to see is that, as a single mother, there are other people who have plenty to say about things that are none of their business. 

My children, for example, feel that they are entitled to say anything they want about anything they want.  They like him; they don’t like him; he annoys them, they annoy him; they want him to come over, they don’t want him to come over; the list is endless and impossible to follow for any rhyme or reason.  The worst part is they like to share their negative feelings with my mother.  While I’m close with my mother, after years and years of therapy, I recognize her for what she is what her weaknesses are.  I have spent most of my life acting or reacting to my mother, seeking her approval.  I dated boys she thought were nice to please her and dated boys she hated to spite her.  As an adult she never really liked my more serious boyfriends.  My ex-husband, being a sociopathic narcissist was charming and my parents initially liked him.  When they no longer liked him, I stayed married to him.  When my parents told me to divorce him, I stayed longer, to spite them.  And in the end, ended up hurting myself.  Not the smartest thing to do, but healthy that I now see it for what it was. 

So my mother has had plenty to say about ex-MM/BF.  He’s not rich.  Well, my ex-husband makes a boat load of money (thanks to me) – should I have stayed with him?  My ex-MM/BF lives too far away.  Well, that’s an issue sometimes, but that’s MY problem, not hers.  x-MM/BF’s kids have problems/issues and they shouldn’t be my issues.  Well, I love my kids to death, but when someone lives in glass houses they shouldn’t throw stones.  But, he is kind, he’s gentle, he’s decent.  He’s kind to my children, my friends, my parents.  He’s decent and welcoming to everyone in my life.  He is not mean, cruel, judgemental, divisive, selfish, narcissistic, hurtful.  And yes, we fight.  And yes there’s some hurt still there that needs to be worked on.  But BF bought my daughter a birthday present 2 weeks before her birthday, after thinking about it for weeks and well ahead of my purchase (which I have still to make.)  BF bakes cookies with my younger daughter because she asks him, and he’s never too tired to do it.  He walks the dog without me asking; fixes the clogged drain without me asking; changes the light bulb without me asking; buys milk without me asking.

After 46 years, my mother asked me if she could fix me up with the son of a friend of hers.  He just got divorced.  He’s supposedly good-looking, smart, rich, etc.  She asked me this after having spent a weekend with me and x-MM/BF.  Really mom???  Are you kidding???  And as an aside, that never happened.

So, full circle once again.  Where was I May 10, 2010?  I have to go back and re-read what I wrote because I’m so good at forgetting so many things that hurt me.  So after reading and reading (which put me in a horrible mood) a year ago, xMM came to my town, after his w retained a divorce attorney, to see me and spend a weekend with me, to be seen in public with me as a couple, not a secret.  I was excited.  I was hurt.  Interesting how the re-reading makes all of those feelings come alive again, swirling around in my head and my heart.  It’s difficult to believe that it has been more than a year that we have a been a “public couple.”  And yet, there are plenty of people we know that don’t know about us.  There are times when I get angry that he tells people we’re together and angry when he doesn’t say anything.  It is all a constant discussion.  As he left the business that we were in together, there are still people who don’t even know that he got divorced, let alone that we’re together.  And the feedback has been mixed.  Some of my work “friends” have told me that while he’s a nice guy, he’s not really the one for me; and some have said that they knew all along that he is my soul-mate, my “meant to be.”  I don’t share the hesitant comments with him.  That would just be hurtful.

Mother’s day was a couple of weekends ago, already.  xMM/BF wanted to see his son’s little league game on Saturday at 2pm.  He told me days before that he wanted to come and spend the weekend, then refused to talk about plans for the weekend when he learned of the game and passive/aggressively let me know that he was meeting his friend for drinks on Friday evening.  I don’t care that he wanted to see the game, I care that he couldn’t come clean about it at the time he learned of it.  Worse, he was talking about coming to my town after the game.  He wouldn’t get to me until 8pm at the earliest.  I finally relented and said that I would rather spend some time with him than no time.  Until Friday when his friend invited him to a basketball game and he told me he wanted to go – worse – he said “forgive me for wanting to go.”  I told him that after all we had discussed I was more than disappointed that he wasn’t coming to see me; incensed by his rude remark and that I would see him in a couple of weeks.  The fighting was mean and vicious.  In a calmer moment, I told him to go to the game, it was a playoff game.  I also told him not to come to see me after the game or the following day.  He came anyway.  I was furious and I was happy.

He climbed into bed with me on Sunday morning, looked me in the eye and said that he wants to make this permanent, that he wants to marry me and that we should get engaged.  If I’ve told him once, I’ve told him a thousand times that I don’t want to get married again.  My last marriage was horrible.  We have a good thing.  Why fuck it up by getting married?

He told his kids that we’re going to get married some day.  I have avoided discussing this with my kids.  They don’t want me to get married.  And they don’t want me to marry him.  While I hear what they’re saying, I don’t care all that much.  I’ve spent too much of my life acting/reacting to what others say and worrying what others think.  This time, no matter what I do, it will be my decision.

x-MM/BF and I had our tarot cards read this weekend.  I love doing that kind of stuff (although I’m ashamed to admit it).   He went to the bathroom and the card reader looked at me and said that she saw I was unsure – should I be with him or not be with him and that I was leaning towards the latter.  I was surprised.  How did she know?  I know what you’re thinking – you can read/see anything you want when you listen to these “fortune tellers.”  And no, she hasn’t won the lottery with her ‘gift.’  Hmmm, food for thought.  Then during BF’s card reading, she said that she was surprised we weren’t engaged yet.  WTF???  Happily ever after?  Are you kidding?

Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?

Life goes on.  We read.  We write.  We’re happy.  We hurt.  And yet, we’re lucky enough to wake up in the morning – no matter the emotional condition.  We agonize over that.  We ache for what could have, should have been, but isn’t or isn’t what we thought, what we wanted, what we imagined.  Be careful what you wish you for.  I no longer have enough fingers to count the number of times I’ve thought it, said it and felt it.

I started this post a month ago, and as I’ve re-read the following, it is relevant today too, so I’ll keep it and add from there.

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So here I am.  3/17/2011.  A year ago today, MM was with his (ex) wife, back from a weekend in Mexico, celebrating her 40th birthday because the spa certificate wasn’t good enough for her and she had posted pictures of her “awesome 40th” on Facebook extolling the great time they had; MM sent me emails during the weekend talking about how much sleep he was getting as he hadn’t been feeling well during the week (liar); MM and I had plans to get together unbeknownst to anyone but us — the first time since 12/4/09 on 3/18/10.  And let’s not forget that he couldn’t see me or speak with me, publicly that is, while he was “working through things.”  It still burns me to think about that.  At what point will I be able to let it go?  Will I ever be able to let it go?  I don’t know the answer to that.

So, a year ago tomorrow, MM and I were meeting at a diner halfway between where he lives and where I live.  He wasn’t wearing his wedding band for the first time ever with me (ah, the fucking ring 😉 ) and despite all the water under the bridge, it felt like no time had passed.  I burned with anger, with passion, with resolve.  I wanted to slap him, kiss him, kill him, make love to him.  The day after our meeting, he told his wife that he wanted to separate.  She agreed.  He felt guilty.  I can relive every second, every feeling, every thought as if it were yesterday.  Yet it a year ago.

Tomorrow, MM/BF is coming to my town and bringing his kids, for the weekend.  Quite the dichotomy.  I was speaking to MM/BF’s son this evening and he asked me when I was going to be his step mother.  He told me that he would like that very much.  He thinks that I’m nice.  That was sweet.  I told him that I think he’s nice too.  I can’t answer his question.

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MM/BF has been having panic attacks lately.  About money, life, stress, work, etc.  Bad enough that when he was here, the attack was so bad that we went to the emergency room of a local hospital.  Nothing like sitting in a psych ward on a Sunday.  He walked out with a couple of prescriptions and with a warning to see his doctor. 

Yes, the stress of the past year has gotten to him.  In fact, the stress of the past 45 years has finally caught up with him.  No big surprise.  I confess that I find it difficult to garner sympathy for someone having a panic attack.  Why can’t you just “psych yourself out of it?”  I know that’s not possible, but I wonder about it none the less.

The stress:  about getting fired, getting caught, getting hired, getting fired, getting divorced.  Boo hoo.  I’ve been under a lot of stress too and haven’t had panic attacks.  Why not?  Where do they come from?  Why can’t he control them?  Why do I always have to be the strong one?  Why do I have to take care of everything?

MM/BF came to my town, with his kids, for most of their spring break.  I got to see first hand, for an extended period of time, how he deals with life.  Quite interesting to say the least.  I was the one that disciplined his kids; I was the one that made the daily decisions – what to do, where to go, what to eat, when to bathe, etc., etc.  As for his kids – MM/BF and I had a long, painful conversation.  What I said to him was – you moved out in December 2010, your kids did not become this way in 4 months.  You had 11 years in the same house with them and your now ex-w.  Where were you as a father?  Where were you as a parent?  What were you doing?  What were you thinking about?  It wasn’t a good conversation.  He cried.  I didn’t comfort him.  We all live with the choices and decisions we make.  Luckily with children, every day is a chance to change and make a difference.  Why didn’t it bother him that he didn’t have a co-parent or a partner to help him parent?  Why did he completely abdicate control?  If your wife was spanking the kids and you didn’t approve, why did you allow it to happen, no matter how often or infrequently?  Why didn’t you stop her?  Why did you just shrug your shoulders and look the other way?  Parenting is hard work and while rewarding, isn’t always fun.  You don’t get to be “uncle daddy” and think that everything is going to be okay.

I sat his kids down, with my younger kid as there was some fighting going on.  We had a “talk it out” that I conducted in a fairly strict or rigid way – giving everyone a chance to speak, to not speak over the other person and for all of us to come up with a solution.  It was successful. 

MM/BF told his shrink that he had spent his adult life and his parenting life married to someone who was not an adult, someone who could never have controlled the situation and done what I had done.  Enough bashing of the ex-w.  What I want to know is — where was he?  What was he doing? 

I don’t want to be a parent to his kids.  It’s exhausting enough parenting my own as a single mother.  It’s hard enough stressing out about work (or lack thereof), my ex’s bad behavior, unemployment without worrying about him.  I’m tired.

MM/BF and I are in the same niche industry.  He recently applied for a job that I would have liked to apply for.  I gratuitously told him to go ahead, even though he has a job and I don’t.  Without thinking about how this would really effect me, he went ahead and applied.  I have vacillated about submitting my own application.  I spoke to him about it and he told me to apply and that he didn’t mind.  I don’t see a good outcome out of that application.  In fact, the only positive outcome I see is for him not to get the job.  If we both applied and I got it, he would resent me; if he got, I would resent him.  If I don’t apply and he gets it, I will forever wonder – what if.  It’s not a good position to be in.  I’m losing sleep over it.  What if? 

Would have, should have, could have. 

Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?