Help

"I want a divorce", She said.

My jaw dropped.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me! I'm sick and tired of this."

"But, but..", I stammered, "Why?"

As she spoke to me in angry tones, my mind flashed back to three days prior. She had just finished up working from home and decided she wanted some apples, an item which she never picks up at the grocery store but at the Farmer's Market. It was getting late and they would be closed in an hour.

I hurriedly brushed my teeth. We rushed out the door. As we reached down the stairs and out the door from our apartment we saw the bus. We just missed it.

"I don't think I'm going anymore. It's 20 minutes to the next bus and the market closes in less than an hour", she said, looking very disappointed.

"Come on baby. We can make it there in fifteen minutes. I'm sure they haven't closed yet."

"Okay. Hold on. Maybe we should try and catch the bus on King."

"Okay", I said. And off we went talking, smiling, laughing.

We soon got to King but the only bus we saw was an express that didn't stop.

"Keep walking?", she asked.

"Yup", I said. "The traffic is moving slow anyway. We'll get there long before any bus would", I thought.

As usual, everything was a topic. Gym, vacation, school, food, the dog, the dog's enormous crap, everything.

As I thought we got there in a little under fifteen minutes.

"Okay baby, I am going to mail this letter and then meet you back at the seats in front of the food market." My phone was left at home charging so there would be no way to call her.

"Okay" She said, disappearing into the crowded mall.

I flashed back to the present in that instance. Was this really happening? I kept listening to her. I could see she was serious. I'd lost her. If not in body, then in soul, in mind, in love.

"You only think of you. You don't care about me. You're selfish."

"No, I can't lose you! I love you.", I begged.

"You don't know what it means to love. You've betrayed me. Pack your shit and leave."

Her words hit me like rubber bullets from a automatic weapon.

Again, my mind flashes away to three days prior. I had mailed the letter that day and was in good spirits. No one had been in line and the clerk wished me a good evening as I stepped out the door. "Now to get back to my baby.", I thought. I turned the corner to the farmer's market. No sign of her. I didn't hesitate. I went right in to her fave spot. The apples there were the best. They were so good that she swore she would never buy grocery store apples again. It was closed. I walked around the whole market. She wasn't there.

"Oh, shit. she must be pissed. I told her to come anyway when we missed that bus. And she's not outside. Oh, no!" I swallowed hard. "Okay, calm down. Maybe you missed her. Just sit here. Wait."

And that I did.

"You're dumb. You're an adult child. All I do is sacrifice and what do you do? NOTHING, NOTHING!"

The words carried me back to my present dilemma. I felt dumb. I felt like a child. I felt like nothing. What do I do? She doesn't believe in my love. Do I back away or fight for what I know to be the start of something special, something just putting down roots. I had to make her see this was a big mistake but how?

Three days ago, I had waited. I got worried. I had been there twenty four minutes. She must have gone home. She's gonna laugh at me for sitting here. NO phone. What do I do? Is she really gone? Check the grocery store. Good idea. Snap, she's not there. Shit. Shit. SHIT. Okay, Go home and call her with the intercom system. If she's home fine, if she isn't...

She wasn't there.

"Hello", I said as she answered.

"Are you kidding me?", she replied.

"You're not home?"

Dial tone....

As I sat there on the bed listening to her, a sea of regret washed over me. I was wrong. I had forgotten she had gone to buy doggie treats so that's why she wasn't there.

DUMB!

I had betrayed her. I had been disloyal. How do I recover from this. This feeble yet needed thing called trust was hard to keep alive much less resuscitate after something like this.

What next? What do I do?

Beginning of the end.

This is a true story. I am just asking anyone who may read this blog one question. I know I was wrong but would you give up my love because of this betrayal? I love her. I can't live without her. I can but I don't want to.

Being "comfortable" in a relationship

Let me paint a picture for you. You just started dating and you want to make the best impression possible. The three dates with the sane person have gone awesomely.  You decide to cook them a meal and make the evening a more intimate affair. 

The table is set and ready with the finest cutlery you own. The chicken is ready and the side dishes almost done. You buy the most expensive wine. You even went as far as vacuuming even though you did three days ago. 

Dinner is ready so you hurry to the bathroom to have a hot shower and put on some new fragrance that you went out of your way to buy.
Fast forward past the date. It went well. He or she was impressed and your mission is accomplished. Things continue to move along the same lines and you decide to become a couple. You are ecstatic.
Again move forward a year and you're still together.  Do you still do those special things you use to for him or her or are you now comfortable?
Don't get me wrong. Its okay to be comfortable. You found someone who you love and you feel empowered and more fulfilled with them in your life. When I say comfortable, I mean being so relaxed that you are in a relationship that you take for granted that a relationship is an organism that needs to be fed and cared for. 
People will stop doing those special things for their loved ones like in the scenario before. In my opinion, the things done at the beginning should be done right through a relationship. Giving gifts and things like that may change in complexity and taste but it should always be ongoing. 
Do you send your significant other a text message or buy an unexpected gift to let them know you're thinking about them? Sometimes all failing relationships need is a nudge. Just like a dog don't feed it and it will die.
In my experience I have missed the signs of this comfort many times. Why you say? Because it seemed we were both on the same page as far as being comfy. We both said we didn't want to go out or we both stopped doing things that drew us together in the first place.  No one was putting out an effort.  A relationship dies because people allow it even if they don't intentionally mean to. To sum it up never start taking each other for granted.

What are your thoughts on being comfortable?

                                 

Wouldn't It Be Great

He checked his watch. It was approaching midnight but the temperature felt warm like the sun had yet to set. A cool breeze that puts a smile on your face on those hot summer days came without any warning. It made his short walk from his car to the restaurant that  much better.  He had done this before. Well, not exactly.  The elements had always changed but the thrill of it didn't.  Three years to this date he and his girlfriend, now his wife, had started a tradition.  This tradition was carried out two times a year and involved them being someone else. Yes, they would role play that they were different people in different circumstances. To keep it from being something that seemed planned and took away from the spontaneity they would take turns deciding on the scenario. A scenario which would be presented to one another starting with the words, "Wouldn't it be great..."

Three days before he had received the letter in the mail in a brown envelope with only name on the front in old English letters. It started :

"Wouldn't it be great if you ran into someone at the Great Tap House of London Restaurant at the bar and immediately desire to carry her to the nearest hotel and have your way with her?   This after having some red wine, chatting and complimenting her on her fabulous red dress? I think it would be. It would be even better if they met an hour before the bar closed. A little conversation...but not too much."

A grin came across his face as he remembered the lines. She was always creative with her letters. As he entered the building he noticed anticipation just like the first time he ever did it brought flashes of past encounters with it.  Fixing his tie, he ordered a martini.  As he sat there, out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed something red. he spun on his stool.

" Hi there."

"Hello"

"My name is Emerson. And you are?"

"Aren't you going to ask me to sit down first?"

"I'm sorry. I was just overtaken by your beautiful smile, and gorgeous red dress." She smiled even wider.

"What would you like to drink? Red wine would be my best guess."

Three years and counting. Wouldn't it be great? He knew it was. He knew it was great!