Then and Now

I never really knew what life could be like until I got divorced. The divorce and the aftermath was a nightmare.  But once I let go of the crap, a whole new world opened up for me. Some of which I am, upon reflection, not real proud of. But it was MY life, to do as I wanted for the first time.....and if anyone got hurt, it was me. I did things I never dreamed I would. I went to swing clubs....I swam in the nude in the Caribbean and vacationed at a nude resort....I saw Auchwitz.

But I was fortunate.  I met a man who didn't care about my issues. I guess mine weren't as bad as his previous girlfriend.....she was a kleptomaniac. Now I am not talking about Ron.....he was a hermit and we rarely went anywhere. But before him was my fiancée. He was very intelligent and well travelled. He wanted to share all that with me and I was thrilled to be able to do it. But he died 2 years after I met him and it was the second time I had to pick up the pieces of my life and start again. I did it....but I was younger and my mother was still alive and I had a place to go to regroup. I took classes, I spent more time with my kids and after about a year I started dating again.  And I met Ron. And although he was nothing like my fiancée, he was sweet and a total gentleman.....he treated me like a queen. And more importantly, he loved me. And the better I got to know him, the more I realized he was a man who found it very hard to love anyone. After 3 failed marriages and a broken engagement, I suppose his family knew it too.

But then he was gone....and there was no safety net. No parent to move in with. ...no money coming in. And my spirit was broken. ....the anxiety I had suffered for decades had ballooned as I aged and I couldn't pick up the pieces as I had in the past. Those pieces are scattered all over and I can't put them back together yet. I want to, but I can't do it alone this time. But I don't want a man.....not now. And no man would want me like this.....that I know. I don't like myself like this so I need to wait until I do. I can't live in the past, but that doesn't mean I will ever forget it. In some ways, it's all I have left.

My song today is Bookends by Simon and Garfunkle. Sad and sweet. ....like me.