One Of Those Things- I Suppose

[poliphilo]

Joe had been home only a couple of minutes when Sara rang. She asked for Ailz- which was a little odd- but I told her Ailz was in bed and offered to put her onto Joe. "Oh don't tell him I rang," she said. "We've broken up."

Oh....

Joe's my son and of course I support him in anything he chooses to do ( he says this was his choice) but I'm not going to pretend it doesn't hurt. He and Sara were engaged and I liked her and had taken to thinking of her- and speaking of her- as my daughter-in-law. Lovely girl.

I wonder how her parents are taking it? Joe used to spend five nights a week at their house. He and Ron went drinking together. They went to the gym together.

So do I scrub all the photos of him and her off my computer in case one of them should shuffle into view when he's in the room? Seems a bit Stalinist really- this making of her into a non-person.

Maybe they'll get back together, but I doubt it. This is the third time they've split. The other times felt like spats, like mistakes, like blips. This time it feels final.

They've got a lot of shared property- things they've bought for their future home- and most of it is in our attic. There's going to have to be some sort of division of spoils. She was asking about this when she rang yesterday. I said- pretending to a competence I didn't feel- that we'd sort something out.

I didn't sleep well. And- would you Adam and Eve it?- this morning it's snowing.

Comments

[baritonejeff.livejournal.com]

Not that this should be the deciding factor when a couple decides to split, but I wonder how often they consider the impact it has on the significant others in their worlds.

I'll bet this does hurt, and I'm sorry that you have to go through it.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's a form of collateral damage, isn't it?

Thanks for your concern. It's a dull pain. A sort of pain by proxy, I guess.