All Comments on 'Watercolors Ch. 02'

Very good, quite a story.

Brain cancer and/or tumor are bad to say the least... Been there done that.... I see her face in my mind, I feel her being in my body, I feel her love in my heart.... I will Love her forever and ever and ever

I can see why the wife did what she did. I can also see this is where you wanted the story to end. The husband dying and the wife going off in to the sunset with the lover.

You had a setup in which a woman has an affair because her husband is acting irrationally and abusively. We then discover two things, that he confessed to an old affair a few years ago and far more importantly that the cause of his irrational behavior was a now terminal cancer. This fails as story telling because you don't in any way investigate her reactions to this discovery. She experiences no guilt - only an italicized sentence asking if he'll throw her out - and discusses her husband's impending death calmly with her new lover. No sense of remorse that she didn't push him to see a doctor, that she instead traveled to see a lover over and over, none of the usual human feelings that a person has that she's at fault for the bad things that happen.

No remorse for the loss of a husband of 32 years. No sense of self-judgment, nothing but "it's what he wanted," nothing about how she failed her husband and her children by not pushing him to see a doctor, nothing of the terrible feelings any family member has. No, instead she agrees her lover should be at her husband's funeral for her support. Imagine how her children would feel if they found out their mother was cheating on their father when he was dying? Imagine how they'd feel knowing their mother was traveling to see her lover instead of getting their father help? How would they feel when his symptoms were in retrospect so completely obvious?

Have you been around families suffering through a cancer death? I have, many times. Have you seen how a person changes as cancer kills? I have and any wife who'd be so oblivious is not human.

My reaction reading this was that you lacked the courage to tell this story properly, that you copped out by shortening it because you weren't able to dig into the real feelings.

Basically, I can not imagine doing what the wife did because

I feel absolutely bound by my promise. Most of these loving wife stories have this problem because the behaviour of the cheater could be under the "in sickness or in health" clause.

The act that "should be punished" may be that of a sick person. The other thing is that trying to deal with sick people can be very difficult. She should have sought back up from the familly. But letting herself find a nice love nest that helps her to hide from the problem does not sound very good to me. Luckily for her it was over in two days, it could have been Alzheimer and lasted for many years...

as to whether her husband was ill or not.Sure she tried to persuade him to take a health check,but did not do anymore.Any married man will tell you that given time the "fair" sex will wear a man down,and in the end he will do as he is told to do.All she wanted to do was fuck another man,and seeing as her daughter agreed with her they can now make a threesome with Ralph.I hope that her husband had changed his will and left her nothing.

but that is all. It does not take being Catholic to understand wedding vows. Interestingly I have been to many non-catholic weddings and the vows are the same. If a situation could be worse for infidelity I have not thought of it. The wife is a whore on every level. There is no justification for her actions, although the author spends the entire story trying to convince us she is justified. Hell has a special place for people like her. Ralph was a more compassionate character than she was. Yes he took advantage of the situation but he backed off every time she had doubts. He asked her to tell Joe the truth, and still she lied. Confessional does not mean acceptance. The church knows that a deed done can not be undone by penance alone. Due to her continued adultery she never actually does penance. She goes through the motions without any conviction. Good writing and plot, but as a justification defense of adultery it falls short. In the end we see she has no redeeming qualities. Judas was no better.

GW66

<br></br>

in part 1 you gave this story a 25. You correctly stated that the wife does NOT love her husband and her glib remarks about confession and adulterty in part 1 proves it.

<br></br>

OK... so what has chnaged here? In part 2 you wrote

<i>I can see why the wife did what she did.</i>

<br></br>

HUH? how does the Husband coming down with brain cancer/ Tumor justify what the husband did?

<br></br>

as for His affair... IF the wife decided to deal with it... keep the marriage together she does NOT get a free pass to fuck some other guy at a later date card.

for Free card

The writing IS superb. This story ends way too soon... but the real problem is something that many good writers have problems with... which is why good writers often have trouble writing good stories.

<br></br>

MAJOR EVENTS/ ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES.

<br></br>

Its really that simple. Matt Moreau doesnt get this concept either os it is NOT just THIS author.

<br></br>

Husband had an affair some years back. How does the wife feel and think about that? we dont know. It is never discussed

<br></br>

Husband has brain Cancer. He wont get tested. What does she think? we dont know... the issues is never raised.

<br></br>

How does the wife reconcile her cheating with Husband's death? We dont know...the issues is never raised.

for being unfaithful to her husband and her marriage and for abandoning her husband in his hours of need and pain. To bad the husband was so stubborn but as described he would have died anyway. She on the other hand has to live for years with the knowledge her husband was sick and she virtually abandoned him and ran off and was a slut committing adultry. This causes many people to commit suicide and suicide isnt much of a sin for her commit after all she had already committed two others.

Well, at least he didn't hit her....too much anyway.

and touching story.

Thank you, ohio

Great story. If anybody has ever known anyone who has had a brain tumor and it wasn't diagnossed until too late then you can relate to the story.

killed ralph before he died

The story has been fine so far. The plot is more than a little contrived, but still fine. <p> <br>

Understood in context, Joe and Jan are both likeable characters. It is clear early on that Joe has a health issue that he is too stubborn to address. It is easy to see how Jan would seek solace in someone who at least seems to care. <p><br>

It would be interesting to see where it goes from here. Is Ralph really honorable? Is there a future for them? I's like to know.<p><br>

PaRebel

So many opportunities to be a great story were missed when she was instead painted positive by the writer through their daughter who saw little but absurdly granted her divorce from a sick husband and father.<P>

How nonsensical. Then she suffered not only no consequence but no real remorse in living deliriously happy ever after.<P>

So many missed opportunities that no reasonable person could buy this pap.<P>

You can do much better writer.

I would like to reply to the anonymous comment questioning my score. Although why the person should do this I have no idea. Anyway the ONLY reason I gave top marks was because of the writing. Personally I think the wife was wrong to do what she did, but given the circumstances I CAN see why a wife would do such a thing. Imagine this story was real for a momment, A wife has an abusive husband who at any time could hit her. From out of nowhere a person who is willing to show sympathy for her. A shoulder to cry on. The more abusive the husband gets the more she is driven in to the lovers arms. and so the story goes on. Untill finally WE the readers have already guest, the husband is dying of a tumour is this any excuse for cheating on the husband NO it is not. I don't agree with the centiment at all. BUT the writing itself is very good. I wish I could write as well. So to sum up I don't agree with the content of the story I just think it was a good read. Nothing more than that. I take no deep meaning from it and I will probably not think about the story once it has faded to the back pages of this site.

Cloacas has a good point in the early comment about this story. Amazing to me is the continued support for someone like John Edwards, former US Senator and VP candidate, who had an affair and apparently, a "love child" while his wife was fighting for her life and receiving treatment for cancer. I guess his lies and the subsequent revelations (revelations begun, like the Monica Lewinsky affair, by the National Enquirer) are not enough to turn off the great majority of Americans. People in other countries often regard Americans as prudish and moralistic; maybe we once had those qualities but not so much any longer. There were many things Jan could have done to push Joe to a doctor when his unusual behavior first began. She could have called the police, initiated a separation order, or any number of things. As others said, she might have enlisted the aid of other family members. At some point, his mental competence would have been questioned and a thorough battery of tests ordered. His brain tumor might have been removable or at least, more successfully treated, had it been caught early. But instead she ran away and she found comfort in the arms of another. Joe is just plain stupid not to listen to his wife of 32 years. During his lucid moments, he certainly could have asked about his ranting and other behavior problems; any reasonable person, stubborn though they might be, would have gone to a doctor if he/she were having inexplicable, nasty behavior problems that hurt the loved one(s). Ralph is lonely but he is amoral to prey upon a woman's feelings when he knows she is married. Frankly, I have no sympathy for any of the three.

Joe rejected his wife's love and forced her to choose leaving over abuse. That she found someone who cared about her was magical. Joe's tumor excuses nothing. The abuse still occurred and he admits he was wrong to ignore it. Catholicism forced her to stay when she should have gone.

It is a very well written story, but you telegraphed the brain tumor way back in Chapter 1 - - why would Joe's conduct change so markedly. If the merry widow "rides off into the sunset" with her new man, I'll be upset - - at least from the standpoint of poetic justice. She has no socially redeeeming value.

The story was increadibly well written, but I could not give this tale any marks. What this story has successfully described was a betrayal of the highest order. It would have been spectacularly obvious to all and sundry that there was something very wrong with Joe. The stupids slut wifes dutiful response to this of course is to run to the nearest handsome stranger and let loose! His own brilliant, loving and caring daughter encouraged her mother to stay with the stud. A well written tale of increadibly shallow and weak willed individuals.

"Katy, it's not that simple. We've been married almost thirty-four years. If he didn't have me around to take care of him, I don't know if he could get by."

"You've found someone in Santa Cruz who makes you happy. I can tell. I'm not blaming you. You've done enough. You deserve any happiness you can get."

"Katy, I took a vow before God. I can't walk away so easily." Before she left, she gave Katy Ralph's number in case she needed her.

My God, the betrayal here between mother and daughter is breathtaking. Is this how reasonable and caring people are suppose to behave?

I enjoyed the conclusion to the story. The abuse Jan suffered never devolved into battery but the threat of physical violence loomed large in her mind. While I don't necessarily condone her withdrawal from Joe, I do understand it. No one, nobody, deserves to be abused and, when a spouse crosses that line, all bets are off. Abuse is a violation of the marital contract, and my sole complaint with what Jan did was that she did not divorce her abusive husband. I shouldn't be surprised--my mother did exactly the same thing. The fact that an illness caused Joe's abuse does not mitigate it. He could have listened to his loving wife and seen a physician. He chose badly and came to a bad end.

<P>

I liked the characters because they were realistic. The author did a fine job portraying them as human beings, with their foibles and hallmarks, strengths and weaknesses.

<P>

My thanks for a fine story.

Wife is a complete asshole. No justification for what she did. If she cared for her husband at all she would have got 1 of her 3 adult sons to get him to go to the DR instead of playing the Drama Queen and running off to spread her legs for some guy she just met who made her feel good. She tries to claim the high road/doing the right thing as a Catholic. But where were her vows/pussy after 34 years when times got a little tough? Hope she does marry Ralph and he gets sick; kiss your ass good bye, Ralph. Is this story supposed to mock the hypocrisy of Catholic's being more concerned with form over substance in their religion? Does adultry, abandoning a sick/terminally ill spouse and more adultry = a few Hail Mary's? (This issue is at least 500 years old; buying your way into heaven with a good deed, money, or Hail Mary's to offset the bad stuff. Saint Joan of Arc's bodyguard, Giles de Rais, was probably the biggest murderer/pedophile of all time [100's if not 1000's of little boys], but he died with a clean conscience and knew he was going to heaven when they finally killed him cause he paid a priest to tell him so).

Wife is a complete asshole. No justification for what she did. If she cared for her husband at all she would have got 1 of her 3 adult sons to get him to go to the DR instead of playing the Drama Queen and running off to spread her legs for some guy she just met who made her feel good. She tries to claim the high road/doing the right thing as a Catholic. But where were her vows/pussy after 34 years when times got a little tough? Hope she does marry Ralph and he gets sick; kiss your ass good bye, Ralph. Is this story supposed to mock the hypocrisy of Catholic's being more concerned with form over substance in their religion? Does adultry, abandoning a sick/terminally ill spouse and more adultry = a few Hail Mary's? (This issue is at least 500 years old; buying your way into heaven with a good deed, money, or Hail Mary's to offset the bad stuff. Saint Joan of Arc's bodyguard, Giles de Rais, was probably the biggest murderer/pedophile of all time [100's if not 1000's of little boys], but he died with a clean conscience and knew he was going to heaven when they finally killed him cause he paid a priest to tell him so).

There is no doubt that this is a sad story. First we have Joe, who clearly from the outset has something wrong with him, as confirmed in Ch 2. The wife recognizes something is wrong, but other than asking him a couple times to see a doctor does nothing else but run away. Despite his tumour, Joe is no fool and how can he help but know. She only comes home to clean once a month.

His only reward, if there is one depends on her allegedly strong Catholicism, he doesn't let her apologize for her cheating, if she actually intended to. Assuming that his beliefs are strong as well, his last laugh is hoping that once he is gone, her guilt may appear, with no way to beg forgiveness.

As for her, yes she doesn't deserve abuse, but we had well over 30 years without. Clearly something is wrong, but rather than get her kids involved she runs out and has an affair. After the first time she feels guilty and is ready to quit, until the next time he loses it, then heads off full bore, never to return as wife, but only as a housekeeper, trying to believe by doing that she is not deserting her husband. She only returns when he is dying, but again, only after agreeeing that her lover should come to the funeral.

She didn't deserve the verbal abuse, but it was a symptom she ignored, instead using it as an excuse to justify her affair, ignoring what from appearances had been a pretty good marriage, his fling aside.

And Ralph, out only for himself, the comment suggesting Joe was "a lucky guy" was pure B.S., issued only when he realized he couldn't otherwise talk her into a divorce. And going to the funeral to support her, is instead his chance to do his victory dance on Joe's grave, and celebrate his victory.

It would be interesting to see a follow up, to see how she reacts when reality sets in.

My major complaint was drawing the daughter in to suppport mom's affair which makes her demand for treatment ring hollow later.

Still, very well written, and it did achieve what I think was a major objective of the writer, to get us all talking.

<p>the comments about this story make it plain that there is no gray area related to adultery as far as this crowd is concerned. Black and white. Everything is black and white.</p>

<p>As a small voice of dissent, allow me to give my two cents. Hubby refused her advice about seeing a doctor. In fact he became abusive when she brought the subject up. He became abusive about other things as well. He was on/off, hot/cold, loving/irrational.</p>

<p>She found a pressure valve to allow her to make it through the pain. She was unfaithful. She had a pretty good reason for being unfaithful, and yet she still remained by her husband's side, still refused to leave him in his time of trial, regardless of how unreasonable, how abusive he became. I give her props for that.</p>

<p> It was a sad situation and she reacted as many people would have reacted, I think. He was stubborn and abusive and she needed emotional support that she was not receiving. That is a formula for infidelity. And still she stayed with her husband.</p>

<p>There are loving wives and there are loving wives. I have no problem with this one.</p>

To both Alvaron and Thebullet, thank you very much for making the points I was planning to make (and more) so eloquently. <P>

I want to add a a reality check in the form of some information from the field in response to some of the arguments which were made here. Sorry if this one happens to be even longer than my usual comments…<P>

Most were based on the wrong assumption that a spouse can somehow force his/her ailing partner to take medical steps and or to follow up on them. I work in this field and unless a person is deemed by court to be incapable to be his/her own guardian (and in most cases, unless a person is replaced by another person which the court appoints to be that person’s guardian) - the sole autonomous agent regarding his/her physical mental wellbeing remains the ailing person. No one else can force the ailing person to take or to stop any actions unless the person agrees. <P>

It gets some getting use to, and I have seen it time and time again, when well intentioned family members want to help a family member who clearly does not make the best decisions on his/her own behalf. Still, unless the ailing person is legally incompetent to decide about his/ her own well being one could risk legal action for forcing un authorized help upon the ailing person - even if it was done in the best intentions. <P>

I doubt it very much that the kind of anger eruptions presented in the story would have ever made the husband eligible to be considered mentally incompetent and in need of having a guardian. He was not psychotic and was not presenting imminent danger for himself or others. Yes, the bar is set very low (or high – depends how you look at it) for assessing the mental incompetence in that respect. <P>

In all likelihood, even a court (that is, in the remote chance that this kind of case could have even met the threshold to making it to a court) would have allowed the husband to continue managing his life on his own with a strong recommendation for counseling…). <P>

There are numerous arguments on both sides of the question how high or low should the standards be in assessing mental competence. For now, suffice it to say that from a pure legal perspective no one could simply ‘take’ or ‘remove’ or ‘place’ or subject another person to any treatment, unless he or she is this person’s legal guardian and in consultation with the appropriate medical authority. <P>

For those who seem to minimize the impact of ongoing or even intermittent mental (as opposes to physical) abuse. I doubt very much that any of you have been the direct recipients of such an abuse and still think one should voluntarily stay together with such an abuser under these circumstances. Research has shown that the impact of intermittent mental abuse is rated as the most devastating exactly because of the cumulative effect of its unpredictable nature and the anticipatory anxiety associated with it. It destroys one’s self esteem and can lead to long term devastating outcomes, years after the abused have been removed from the abuser. All I can say is that this wife was one smart woman to remove herself from this situation before the husband turned her into a mental basket case (or worse). BTW, this does not mean that this kind of an abusive spouse should be abandoned. From a safe distance, different types of care could be attempted.<P>

In most normal situations I am the strongest advocate of marital fidelity. The assumption is that we still have two partners who are able to sit at the table and coherently and reliably negotiate and communicate with each other. In those conditions there is never an excuse for cheating. In a case such as the one presented in this story –the above conditions are not met. In addition, by refusing medical help and continuing to threaten the wife, the husband created unsafe environment for anyone to live next to him. I would have never recommended that the wife ever come back to that house without the presence of a third person. So much for intimacy at this point…<P>

I believe that in these kinds of conditions it should be left to each person’s conscience to decide how to conduct oneself (and for how long) regarding one’s sexual life. For the high and mighty among us, consider the devastating impact of official divorce at the time of need on the disabled person (remember, we are talking about chronic conditions where it is possible that many years of deterioration may pass before the ailing spouse dies).

Yes it was quite well written but -<P>

The real story wasn't about cuckolding him [or was it ]. It was about spousal interactions and her failure to take action with their children to determine why.<P>

Failing that run and hide there wasn't anything erotic, pleasing or entertaining in her/thier decision to abondon him.<P>

All the high faluting analysis about the writing & the subject failed to address the nut of the story regarding spousal neglect without remorse or consequence.<P>

Grow up people

It doesn't make any difference if the story is fact of fiction, it seems like a chronicle of someone in the author's life. Well written and true to life, the story brings out the sad truth of married couples who go through cancer to a loved one.It's been a pleasure to read this fine story....Rich

Alvaron, KOLKORE, Bullet, if I ever murder someone, I hope like Hell guys like you sit on my jury. I'll hire a chick and you'll believe whatever she says. A short story for you guys: For whatever reason, brain tumors were common in Eastern NC when I was a teen (maybe the DDT?). It nearly wrecked two of my friends families. HOWEVER, guess what? Their Spouses (one wife/one hubby) didn't engage in affairs! Ask me how I know. The man would take me fishing or show me tricks on the pool table we had in our barn. I got pretty damn good at both due to her illness.The wife might WOULD have had one, but she didn't drive and the only person who would stop by and take her "in to town" was my MOTHER, or my Mom would make ME take her. So, unless she was getting bent over in the IGA, wasn't nothing happening. You guys must have been part of some shitty relationships, if this is normal for you. It explains alot though. No wonder you have no clue about "Better or Worse".

Daughter Katy's husband better leave her NOW. She had zero compassion for her Father, so she'll have even less for her husband. Santa Cruz to Sacto is a pretty good drive. Wifey didn't give a damn and even the write couldn't pull this off. Maybe, if she gets ill, loverboy will have an affair on HER. The ol' Cosmic Balance can be a mother.

Tip o' the hat to cloacas. He nailed it!

The issue that most of the dumb headed commenters seem confused about is when is abuse no longer abuse but a symptom of illness that "FAMILY" is obligated by the SOCIAL FABRIC, BLOOD and LOVE to HELP one another with, instead of feeling justified in going off to REPEATEDLY FUCK the guy down the street. And the curb stone lawyers attempting to lecture all us presumtive lay folk about incapacity and legal justifications for guardianship seem to be forgetting: SIMPLE HUMAN DECENCY. As in some cases, what may be currently legal and what is right are clearly 2 different things. Loving a person for 34 year and abandoning them for a new boyfriend when they begin exhibiting clearly abnormal behaviors violates the basic right and wrong precepts that underly all the Judeao-Christrian foundations of our legal systems. I'm sorry but all the commentators try to justify the wife abandoning the sick husband in his time of need for some cheap thrills based on her subjective claims of "fear" of the guy because he insulted her Beef Wellington which somehow gets bootstrapped into abuse are trying to put spats on a pig.

The issue that most of the dumb headed commenters seem confused about is when is abuse no longer abuse but a symptom of illness that "FAMILY" is obligated by the SOCIAL FABRIC, BLOOD and LOVE to HELP one another with, instead of feeling justified in going off to REPEATEDLY FUCK the guy down the street. And the curb stone lawyers attempting to lecture all us presumtive lay folk about incapacity and legal justifications for guardianship seem to be forgetting: SIMPLE HUMAN DECENCY. As in some cases, what may be currently legal and what is right are clearly 2 different things. Loving a person for 34 year and abandoning them for a new boyfriend when they begin exhibiting clearly abnormal behaviors violates the basic right and wrong precepts that underly all the Judeao-Christrian foundations of our legal systems. I'm sorry but all the commentators try to justify the wife abandoning the sick husband in his time of need for some cheap thrills based on her subjective claims of "fear" of the guy because he insulted her Beef Wellington which somehow gets bootstrapped into abuse are trying to put spats on a pig.

But before I get to it, how about quoting or paraphrasing what I have said correctly, without attributing to me things I have never said? Just because we don’t talk face to face does not mean that I can’t see what you are doing or that the rules of decent and respectful dialogue should not still apply (at least among people who don’t abuse the anonymity of this forum and still behave like adults).<P>

One more aside. Personal attacks are the cheapest (and the weakest)shots. To the most part they present the attacker in the worst light. My personal family background is none of your concern and has nothing to do with the issues discussed. People who grow in all backgrounds are capable of developing their own life styles and beliefs as adults. You must know that. In general, attacks on the person rather than on the content, only emphasize the weakness of the position of the person who resorts to this type of response. I am disappointed to see the exchange here going down to this level, where it has not been for quite some time. <P>

I am not an MD. But I do know that not all brain tumors are the same. Regardless, the emphasis in this story was on the verbal abuse, which was all anyone knew until it was too late (due to the husband’s refusal to do anything about it. <P>

I never advocated abandonment or cheating in these kinds of situations. Have you actually fully read what I did say? If anyone is preaching it’s those who tell us that family members must stay under the same roof with a person who refuses treatment, is being abusive and could become dangerous. In fact, I was suggesting that care could be provided even to abusive (and potentially dangerous) people, without risking other people’s lives or well being. BTW, would any of you send your young sun or daughter to be alone with a person whose mental condition is deteriorating, have known to be throwing objects, and randomly screams at the people who take care of him? I doubt it very much. <P>

It’s true that the wife in the story have not used all the possible ways she could to help her husband (she was not a professional health care provider or a social worker). But the story makes it very clear that she tried again and again to direct him to help and on her level, she continuously provided him with all the physical accommodation he needed as far as the house hold goes. <P>

Reg. the sexual conduct I believe I have said very clearly what my beliefs are in general and in particular about the situation in this story (and similar situations). If people want to repeat their own positions they may do so, they may also condemn other positions. But,nothing I have read as “follow up” to my comment reg. the issue of sexual conduct, could give me any indication that there was any effort to relate to what I actually said. Instead of repeating myself in different words I’ll just suggest that you go back and read carefully what I wrote on the issue.

Here's what you wrote:

"It gets some getting use to, and I have seen it time and time again, when well intentioned family members want to help a family member who clearly does not make the best decisions on his/her own behalf. Still, unless the ailing person is legally incompetent to decide about his/ her own well being one could risk legal action for forcing un authorized help upon the ailing person - even if it was done in the best intentions."

End quote.

We're not talking "just a family member". We are talking SPOUSE!The person every State in the Union recognizes as "Next of Kin". Not Parent or Sibs, but your Spouse!

I live in Cali and you left out a good chunk of the standard for a 5150. One crucial part is....is the person at risk to harm himself or others?". You can't have it both ways. Either hubby just talking shit (which is annoying as all Hell, but does not reach the standard of abuse or he was causing "physical harm either verbally or physically". I worked in Mental Health Services for the Tenderloin (San Francisco) and got clients 5150'd for repeatedly screaming out loud and/or talking to themselves. Wills are challenged everywhere with alot less ammo (Remember A-N Smith and the Old Texan?). And guess what happenened when they got to the Hospital? A Physical examination! Diagnosis made, problem solved.

Here's more from you:

"But before I get to it, how about quoting or paraphrasing what I have said correctly, without attributing to me things I have never said? Just because we don’t talk face to face does not mean that I can’t see what you are doing or that the rules of decent and respectful dialogue should not still apply (at least among people who don’t abuse the anonymity of this forum and still behave like adults).

One more aside. Personal attacks are the cheapest (and the weakest)shots. To the most part they present the attacker in the worst light. My personal family background is none of your concern and has nothing to do with the issues discussed. People who grow in all backgrounds are capable of developing their own life styles and beliefs as adults. You must know that. In general, attacks on the person rather than on the content, only emphasize the weakness of the position of the person who resorts to this type of response. I am disappointed to see the exchange here going down to this level, where it has not been for quite some time.

"

Don't find anything there a bit contradictory, do you? I didn't quote each of you, just the general gist of your message, because, unlike you, I don't like a whole lot of Yadda-yadda or writing a book (like I'm essentially forced to do now).Look, I agree it sucks big-time when someone treats you like a doormat. However, it also sucks when your partner uses your joint savings for a get-rich-quick scheme. Or damages the car and you have a 1200 dollar deductible. Or gets drunk and pisses in the corner thinking they are over the toilet. Drag you to "functions" to be around folks you despise. Yep, marriage is tough and only the strong survives. Call me names (cheap-shot artist/immature, which I didn't do to you)I don't give a rabid rabbit's rear-end, but a vow is just that, or it's NOTHING! I'm not saying wait around to get shanked in the chest while you're asleep (eventhough, I'm sure that the Celt/haversackers/Moreau or Ohio will write a story, sooner or later, about just that and hubby, if he survives, will forgive), heck, she could have divorced and screwed anyone she wanted, as far as I'm concerned. BUT, if you make the decision to stay married, then NO half-measures.

change. As the old saying goes, once a cheater - always a cheater. Why was anyone surprised?

read stories like this, then ?

we who love this story are still waiting for ch. 3...

The husband has problems, he is sick. Her reaction lets go have an affair. Not once mind you but a long term affair. When the going gets rough the lazy get going. She virtually moves in with the asshole she is fucking. Only when the husband has to go to the hospital does she leave her lover to go check on her husband. And poor lover has to wait while she holds hubbys hand til his dies. If this is one of your good stories you need to rethink reality. Some one in the reviews said this is life. Folks if this reflects life we need to let the planet fall into the sun and end this charade. How much does this woman love her husband, almost not at all!

she made her choices and should have stuck with them. not love for joe, but the sense of an obligation to say she should,perhaps. she can play the widow card now, and hopefully live with her actions.

00, crap

Let's face it, wife's an uncaring slut, Ralph's an asshole who drove a wedge between her and her husband. Husband's behavioral changes indicated that he had health problems that someone might have noticed if the whore and her asshole hadn't been to busy fucking each other. The only one I have any sympathy for was the husband, and hell maybe he's better off dead than stuck with an uncaring slut for a wife and a daughter who isn't much better.

I did not vote because there wasn't anything lower than a 1. This so called wife was pathetic. He was a fucking adulteress and cshe cared nothing for her husband. She is lucky he only had harsh words for her, any other forms of 'violence' was well deserved. Her Ralph was a pathetic man as well, taking another mans wife and playing house with her. Well the cheating wife couldn't have cared less now that her husband is dead. After all she was running around while he was alive. She was so self righteous and oh so dignified yet she was nothing but a hypocrite. She couldn't forguive his only affair, maybe if she was a better wife she would have understood. Oh well now she can run to back her lover, the pathetic Ralph. Makes me sick! Hypocrites both of them.

I didn't finish reading it. I fell asleep.

The story was good, but I did not have much sympathy for the wife.

Devotion for 36 "FUCKING YEARS" 3 KIDS only to find out that her "CUNT" was more important than her Marriage. I am greatful it onlt took me 22 years to discover my ex's priorities

Not impressed with the story or writing. Wife was a thoughtless

slut. Shoud have realized when HUSBAND was sick. Just gave up on her

husband. Real Nice

It's interesting that all these anonymous women haters railed against her adultery and never mentioned his.

And very good.

Boring and not erotic in the least. Post on storiesonline.

I enjoyed the story. I didn't find it boring and I empathized with the characters. Pls continue.

WOMEN NEED A REASON.

Won't it look good in gray.?

Few marriages end due to the folly of just one .

Gave it a 5.

Thanx.

imagine daughter telling mom. "yes you have your own life.". which daughter will say to her mother get a lover and dump her sick father. she will never ever talk to her mother if it happens in real. if i dont go and see doctor in this condition.my wife will raise a storm involving family also.what our wife in story does is go to her lover for fucks.

Not if one of them is supposed to be Joe. Jan doesn't love Joe enough to come to him the morning after one of his rages and say, "Joe, something isn't right, you aren't acting like yourself. You need to see a doctor before you do something that you'll regret." She doesn't love Joe enough to describe his symptoms to her doctor and find out what might be going on, and what she can do about it. After Joe's diagnosis, she doesn't love him enough to tell him that now she understands his behavior -- much less admit that it wasn't completely his fault. We don't know enough about Jan's relationship with Ralph to know whether she truly loves him, or just loves having sex again after how many years, but she certainly doesn't love Joe.

You set up the affair by:

1. Making the husband impotent

2. Making him abusive

3. Making him an unrepentant cheat.

Then to add insult to injury the lover will attend the funeral.

I agree with everything in this quote:

"I don't get this as a story

You had a setup in which a woman has an affair because her husband is acting irrationally and abusively. We then discover two things, that he confessed to an old affair a few years ago and far more importantly that the cause of his irrational behavior was a now terminal cancer. This fails as story telling because you don't in any way investigate her reactions to this discovery. She experiences no guilt - only an italicized sentence asking if he'll throw her out - and discusses her husband's impending death calmly with her new lover. No sense of remorse that she didn't push him to see a doctor, that she instead traveled to see a lover over and over, none of the usual human feelings that a person has that she's at fault for the bad things that happen.

No remorse for the loss of a husband of 32 years. No sense of self-judgment, nothing but "it's what he wanted," nothing about how she failed her husband and her children by not pushing him to see a doctor, nothing of the terrible feelings any family member has. No, instead she agrees her lover should be at her husband's funeral for her support. Imagine how her children would feel if they found out their mother was cheating on their father when he was dying? Imagine how they'd feel knowing their mother was traveling to see her lover instead of getting their father help? How would they feel when his symptoms were in retrospect so completely obvious?

Have you been around families suffering through a cancer death? I have, many times. Have you seen how a person changes as cancer kills? I have and any wife who'd be so oblivious is not human.

My reaction reading this was that you lacked the courage to tell this story properly, that you copped out by shortening it because you weren't able to dig into the real feelings."

Didn't like it and confused by it so started reading comments. Thebullet and KOLKORE on 11-26-08 probably helped most (after others providing background).

First, she's not "uncaring slut." Proved by her trips back home to provide care for him and devoting herself to him at the end. Second, he's not the all-deserving offended hubby. Consider that he earlier cheated on her and if circumstances (eg discovered when it happened) and her response had been different, she could have divorced him for infidelity years ago. She stuck with him.

So this story is confused. It's about 2 -that's TWO - cheaters. Attempts to lay the blame on ONE are lopsided and make no sense to me. Why did he cheat? Totally unknown except any reason is not justified. Why did she cheat? We know some reasons and they are not justified. There it is -- confused and not something you like to see. Or read about. Told so well that the mess is depicted all the better. Who likes a mess? Not me.

Still don't like it. Not confused about why any more.

No rating. Don't read literotica for great SAD stories.

Paul in Oklahoma

That a high negative percentage of male originated comments stemmed from individuals who have often raised their voices and struck agressive postures that intimidated the women in their life but think because no physical blow is struck that it should be forgotten as a passing weak moment .

First rate writing for this forum . Also Cloacus is a pretty good writer who's a shitty critic.

Allowing her boyfriend to attend the funeral is spitting on the marriage as a whole. His abuse was caused by the tumor and somewhat out of his control. The funeral should be for family and his friends. If the family finds out about Ralph attending, her relationships with their kids could be damaged. "thanks for having your lover at Dad's funeral Mom!" So disrespectful.

Now.it's not cheating, bitch. Damn you and your lover to hell.

it wasn't Alzheimers. It was a brain tumor. Probably should have got the whole family in for an intervention to get him to a check up. Easy to say in hindsight. A slice of real life. Helluva a story about flawed people stuck in the human condition.

GOOD CHEATING CATHOLIC WHORE STORY.

I actually know of a marriage gone awry because of hus brain tumor. He was too different after the surgery, very difficult to be with.

Worn down by years of neglect, his confession of a long affair,...showed he valued neither the marriage, nor her. Yes she neglected him, the carousel of life was slowing down, and she wanted one more chance to grasp the ring of love.

We might think she should stand by the husband, and the shell of a marriage, but love and respect were long gone.

We reap what we sow

Chilley

Thanks for the effort.

Whore wife. No excuses for her

1/5

First, any sentient reader should have guessed by the middle of part 1 that Joe had a physical problem. I'd guessed Alzheimer's onset. She could have handled getting him to a doctor differently.

Second, she just accidently meets Mr. Wonderful. Surfer, bike enthusiast, art aficionado, receding white hairline, endless Viagra supply. To good to be true.

Next, late in the story we find Joe has had a previous affair. Are we are supposed to dislike this sympathetic character now? Too little, too late.

Also, I don't get how the religious aspect of the story was meant to advance the plot or enhance the story at all! I don't know what kind of confessors they have in California, but she didn't find one.

All in all, Joe comes across as an average guy ravaged by disease, Ralph an opportunistic Lothario, and wife Jan as weak-willed house-frau. I recall Jan expressing love for Joe but don't recall anything but lust for Ralph.

Jan, as opposed to Joe, is not a sympathetic character. She needs reworked if we're to feel happy for her.

She needs to tell her boyfriend that he must stay away from the funeral or any other places where her family would be. It would be deeply disrespectful and she should think about that before continuing with him. She risks losing her family when they figure out who the creepy lurking guy is.

I despise cheaters, however, this story is very realistic and I appreciate that. I also suspected that there was a serious physical issue and thought less of the wife for abandoning him. Does she deserve to be happy? Yes. But she made him a promise. Did he cheat? Yes, he admitted it, and it certainly tore down barriers and guardrails for her.

They are imperfect people making mistakes in a realistic vignette of their lives.

4*, deserves a little bit more but I can’t go to 5.

What a sad story

Very good story, almost a real tale of lost and new one found. I guess I would have hoped she had tried harder to get him to accept treatment otherwise the best I've read here.

Why do spouses get treated as hostile by doctors? I saved our doctor the shame of an " unexpected death incident" by writing a letter tp him about my wife's conditon. He responded by calling my wife before prescribing appropiate treatment before it was to late. Suppose I had waited tiil my wife was unable to respond to his call?

Would he just have ignored my plea for help?

Of course the fact that my letter was there might have raised eyebrows in an enquiry.

What I am getting at is would mental health proffessionals listen when a close relative tells them of a sudden change in someones behaviour?

Very well written story. Painful in fact.

I find it kinda funny how in stories where a wife yells and screams at her spouse, insults him, cheats on him and sometimes even physically assaults him, medical issues are typically used as a "get out of jail free" card that lets her skirt any and all personal responsibility for what she's done. Her husband becomes the bad guy if he "abandons" her in her time of need, even after years of abuse.

But when the husband has a medical issue, his wife is well within her rights to find someone else. Everyone rallies around her, pats her on the back and strokes her ego. Hubby's an asshole, fuck that guy, you can do better. And in the end he dies taking all the blame for torpedoing the marriage, and even gives his blessing for the relationship that had long since replaced said marriage.

For a wife to find redemption, all she has to do is survive and it's handed to her. For a husband to find redemption, he has to confess his sins, beg for forgiveness and die. Yes, funny how so many different writers have things play out the same way.

Ralph should not be allowed at the funeral. He has disrespected Joe enough.

Very well written story. A bit like a spouse having your loved come down with dementia or alzheimers. Being They had 32 good years and a few later not so good but the love was still there. I'm glad she will live out the rest of her life in contenment. Being married 53 years now we both have some regets but all are overshadowed by the love we still have and the family we've made. No extra people involved but but I feel I can relate.

A rushed ending, but maybe that’s how life is. I don’t do or say this very often, thank you, 5 stars.