(c) Fay Hauser-Price

“Oh, no!” I moaned. Last time we met she told me about her 2 kids and that she was all excited about elementary school. She mentioned her husband. No clues that anything was wrong, but not many of us give clues to casual acquaintances, do we? Hey! My thought back then was, she HAD a husband! That was what mattered! So, life must have been great, right? She seemed content.  She’s a very attractive woman. Professional. Doctor. Thriving business. Seemed to have all her ducks in a row.

“Yep. It’s been a year and a half.”

“Wow!” I thought. How fast the time flies. And how many changes can happen to a person during the interim!

“This dating scene, girl, is too much! I had forgotten. You know I was married 13 years.”

Thirteen years is a hefty chunk of time. Time enough to have reached a few milestones. She had managed to get through the hot and rosy first year and into the reality of all those little idiosyncrasies that we learn about our mates as we share the bathroom with them. “It’s obvious he used my towel! Why else would it be unfolded on the towel rack.” Or, “why can’t he put the cap back on the toothpaste! There are so many germs floating around the bathroom, and I don’t want the vestiges of fecal air particles ending up on my teeth!”  What a disgusting thought! But, she had made a marriage commitment. For better. For worst. And seemed genuinely committed to it‘s tenants. But here she was, talking about divorce! What happened?

(continues)