Hope, and Empathy

Brett never understood that what kept me going for so long was that my hope that somehow, something would change. Get better. And it kept overwhelming my rational side, convincing me to stick around, stick it out. And now I don't love her, and that hope is gone, and I can see things clearly at last.

Yesterday, being around her at Taylor's performance, it was clear that she's hoping that, somehow, I'll come back. No rational reason for it - I left months ago, I told her I didn't want to come back, I told her I want a divorce. But it's still there. And it's going to get crushed into the ground by the weight of cold, hard reality over the next few months, just like my hopes were. It's not something I would want for anybody - I know exactly how painful it is, how badly it hurts. And yet I'm going to be the one pulling the levers, setting the wheels in motion.

It's the right thing to do. I know that, not just for me, but for her too. And I will press on with it. But knowing what she's going through, pain that I wouldn't wish on a stranger, let alone someone I shared my life with, is going to suck.

No matter that she did the same to me.

Divorce

So, made an appointment to meet with a divorce attorney tomorrow. Go over details, crunch some numbers, come up with a game plan. I need to propose something to Brett that is generous enough that that she can accept it, but not so generous that I end up supporting her as well as Taylor.

I want to be fair. I want to make sure Taylor is taken care of. But after spending most of her adult life being supported by me, and yet complaining that I didn't do enough, I'm not at all sure what Brett is going to consider "fair". If those goes to a fight, I have no doubt that I'll end up coming out ahead financially, but we'll all feel like we lost. And that would be the wost possible outcome.

Bleh. I just want this to be over.

I Has a Future

Okay, well, I haven't been putting up much about my personal life, because I've been enjoying it instead of struggling to make sense of it. Over the past six weeks or so, Julie and I have been growing closer and closer, more and more certain that we have found the right person, the one to spend the rest of our lives with. We've each had a chance to visit each other for a weekend, and she's coming to see me again for three days next week. It hasn't all been sunshine and puppies - long-distance relationships are hard, and when things get stressful (like, the when the "omg there's no way someone this wonderful could be in love with me - I must be making a fool of myself" fear hits) there's no way to just reach out and hold each other and be comforted. Instead, we have to rely on talking to each other. And we have gotten good at it, at talking, at communicating, letting the other know how much we love them. And it is wonderful.

It was only five days after we first started talking that we had this conversation. I'd been arguing with myself for two hours, trying to convince myself I couldn't possibly be feeling what I was feeling. That it just didn't make sense.

me: I think I am seriously falling for you. And - it's not supposed to be this way. I'm supposed to spend months looking, going on dates with the wrong person again and again
and I don't understand what I did to deserve someone who just seems so right just appear out nowhere
the universe is something that always has played against me with loaded dice
being a nice decent guy has always meant that someone else gets the girl
and yet here you are
so loving and open and just so
so
so wonderful
Julie: see, now this is a response :)
Me: hush I gotta keep going
and you think I'm pretty special too
I just really can't believe this is happening - at some point I'm going to wake up and have to deal with the work of finding someone
just someone good enough
and yet here you are, and I'm thinking that, in spite of all my determination to go slow
to not get ahead of myself
to remember that I've only known you a few days
to remember that there's a risk of looking for any port in a storm
in spite of all that, and I've got a lot of willpower, don't underestimate it
in spite of all that
I'm crazy about you
I want to hop on a plane tonight and come see you
I want to wait patiently for three years, seeing you on weekends now and then, because I think you are worth waiting for
I think you are absolutely the most wonderful thing thing to happen to me in a long, long time
and even though this is a crazy, preposterous, reckless thing to say, I'm going to say it anyway
because it is true
I think I'm falling in love with you
Julie: ...can I talk now? :)
me: ok
I'm done
Julie: would ditto be a bad thing to say here?

Her three sons will be out of high school in a few years. She's promised them that she won't leave Florida until then, and I want to stay here to be close to Taylor. So, we're going to do the long-distance thing as best we can, visiting when we can, calling and e-mailing as often as possible. And when the time comes, and we can be together, it will be so wonderful. And, oh yeah, I'm gonna marry her.

Today's Lesson

Do Not buy a box of popsicles and then forget to take them out of the trunk of the car when you get home.

It were a catastrophe.