Goodbye, My Friend

 

It's been 12 days since we lost him, and I'm still processing, not ready to write about it yet. I know I should get these feelings out there, but every time I sit down to write something in me resists and I just can't. Maybe someday I will sit down and beautiful, eloquent words will flow and I'll be able to honor who he was, what he meant to me, but for now I'll just repost what I wrote in April of 2007. 

I love you, "Strider," and will miss you every day of my life. 

Re-post from April 13, 2007: 

Since neither of my youngest daughters have been inspired to choose a "character" for my blog (apparently the nasty business of school and work consumes them), I'll move along and come back to them later. Ex-husband #1 and I share such a long, complicated history; it would take a novel-length post to tell our story! In a nutshell: he and Beren are best friends, have been for 35 years now. I dated Beren first, way back in the day when we were young and wild and a little bit crazy. When circumstances drove us apart, I had the good fortune to be "taken care of" by this amazing man who I went on to marry and create a child with. The marriage didn't last, but the friendship did, and it has only gotten stronger and deeper as we have co-parented and befriended each other through the years. He is a wonderful, passionate father who really opens his heart..a rare find in a man nowadays. He has been "with" me through thick and thin, the subsequent break-up of my second marriage and everything that lead up to it. Several years ago he gave me an amazing gift: he and Kali orchestrated a meeting between myself and Beren, the first time we'd laid eyes on each other in 20-something years. They had no idea what would happen, only that I still had feelings for Beren that I needed to explore further or put closure to. The rest is history, as they say, but I have the greatest admiration for this man who loved me, and his friend, enough to give us his blessing. When the rest of the world looked on in shock and disbelief at the situation, my ex-husband showed grace and dignity and acceptance. He was one of our few "cheerleaders," never losing hope that we would make it, that it would all work out. I can't speak for him, but I know that I feel completely loved by him in the most pure, sincere way, and I believe that Beren feels the same. So, that's the condensed version of the story, and my introduction to Strider..a/ka/ Aragorn..ex-husband to me, best friend to Beren, father of Kali. He says that he chose Strider because he is heroic & chivilrous, and I think that describes him perfectly.

Independence Day

Today I am reflecting upon a difference type of independence, not just of one country separating from another. Due in part to an "incident" with my ex-husband yesterday, I am doing some deep soul searching about what it means to cut oneself off from a person, how to know when it's necessary to do so, and then how to go about making the break.

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that I have been married twice and have three wonderful daughters from those unions. To the very best of my ability, I have maintained good relationships with my exes, not only in the best interest of the children but also because I thought it was the right thing to do. I didn't want constant turmoil and dissension, believed that just because we couldn't make our marriage(s) work didn't mean that we couldn't be, if not friends, at least friendly. This attitude served me well with my first husband, he has been an integral part of my family for the past 22 years since our divorce. This is no small feat considering the history that he and Beren share but we have managed to make it work quite well and I believe Kali is better for it, we all are.

Now, with Husband #2 it has been more challenging, to say the least. Our marriage lasted longer (16 years) and we had more invested in it. In addition to our children we had a business, a home, debt, savings, etc. etc. which has provided more opportunity for conflict and drama. Add to that the fact that he remarried shortly after our divorce, without telling our daughters, to a controlling woman who made it her life's mission to cut me out of his life completely despite the fact that we still had minor children to co-parent. That union only lasted a year but it did as much nearly as much damage to our family as our own break-up did, if you can possibly imagine that.

But, as they say, life goes on and for the past couple of years "T" and I have been civil if not always cozy, I have continued to involve him in every aspect of our children's lives whenever possible. He attends every family event including my own parents' birthdays, he was one of the pallbearers at my mother's funeral. At Kali's wedding he escorted his daughters, Lily and Bambi, down the aisle. I had hoped that after 5 years of divorce things would settle down for good, we would no longer argue and continue to hurt each other. Hasn't enough of that been done, after all? But apparently that was not to be.

Without going into too much detail, let me just say that money truly is the root of all evil, at least in the case of this man. It rules his life, it is what he values most, always has been and apparently always will be. He puts it above all else, his daughters included. This is something we've always understood but never accepted, continued to hope that one day he would get his priorities in order and see that there is so much more to life than the mighty dollar. Hours of texting and heated conversations yesterday proved otherwise. He is still angry and bitter and attacking me in the only way he can right now: through money, and through and at the expense of our children.

Today I woke up with my eyes swollen from crying all day, deflated and defeated. I give up. It is obvious to me that I simply cannot remain in relationship with this person in any capacity. It is toxic to my health and well-being, not to mention what it is doing to my family. I ache for him, for the good parts that I loved and married, for the man he could be, for the father he should be. But I am not responsible for him. Not anymore. I have to cut loose, I have no move on. Yes, we will always be parents together and I am grateful for the beautiful, amazing children we created but that is all. I owe him nothing more than that. Not my loyalty, not my love, not even my friendship.

So, I release you, "T," I wish you the best in your life from here. I will always treasure the memories, will always look at our daughters and appreciate the part of you that is in them, continue to hope that someday you wake up and realize just how rich you truly are in ways that are so much more significant than your bank account. You cannot put a price on family, there is not enough money in the world to take the place of your children.

Be well, "T," Goodbye.