"He did mean it."
"Yeah, right," she snorted. "And look where that got us."
"Morgan, I'm not going to start defending your father," Dana said quietly. "But I was there 15 years ago when he said it the first time, and I know he meant it. He had every intention, and so did I. But sometimes the best of intentions just don't work out. A lot of times they do, but sometimes they don't."
Just finished reading this book & I was quite taken by the above excerpt. It made me think about when my own folks got divorced. One minute we were this intact family & the next minute, that was blown to bits. It was pretty tough especially when both my parents were with different people & not each other--children have a hard time with having to give up the idea that their parents won't be "happily ever after." So when I read this--I was transported back to the day when my dad got remarried & how hard that was for me. I'm on the other side of that now & I guess I'd kinda forgotten what that was like. And even though my kid has had a few years to adjust to the idea of mom & dad not together (and thankfully he wasn't at my ex's wedding), I know that it was hard for him to accept someone not his mom at times & not his dad with me. So why am I talking about all of this? Well, recently I've been writing about how Xing Fu & I are blending our families together more & more and how well it's been going. And it has. I spent Friday evening with him & his kids (my own kid was at his best friend's house) and we had a very nice evening.
But I guess my message here is to our kids: I know what it's like to all of a sudden see your parents kiss another person who is not your mom or dad, even if you rarely or ever saw your parents kiss in the first place (extreme unhappiness in a marriage tends to kill those things & kids don't necessarily see the whole picture). I remember thinking similar thoughts about my dad like the excerpt above. And the mom's response from the story above is very true--sometimes it is happily ever after & when moms & dads say it the first time they really do mean it. I know I had the best of intentions when my ex & I first said "I do." I fought to hold on to our marriage tooth & nail because I didn't want to end up like my parents--but I couldn't anymore & still be me--I hated who I was in my marriage & I knew that I couldn't be in it anymore. I think if you asked my son if he wishes his mom & dad were back together his initial response would be yes, because everyone wants their parents together. But very quickly after he thought a minute he'd probably say "No Way!" And then proceed to tell how much easier it is to live with one very happy parent then two who appear to hate each other & never spoke a positive or happy word to each other in his presence anyway--what kind of modeling for positive adult relationships is that? Now what he sees are two adults who obviously care very deeply for & are very happy with one another--and that's the kind of relationship I want him to model when he gets married. So yeah, I do have some regret & now it's very fleeting, but I think that the choice I made was definitely for the best, even if at first it is harder on the kids. Deep down true.*
*Here's a link if you want to buy the book--I highly recommend it:
http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Down-True-Juliette-Fay/dp/014311851X
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