Closing Time for Our Marriage

"It's so rich that we fail to understand that 'change' is as necessary for the survival of humanity as water and air, yet we do everything in our power to resist it. We are certainly interesting creatures.

"And let's face it, besides being fat, dumb, and happy, I was lazy. Helena was right I had given up on life. It took me a long time to accept the facts, and the facts were I wasn't a very good husband. 'We've grown apart' is a trite and hackneyed phrase but it is applicable to our situation. Maybe a better description is that Helena grew and I stayed stagnant and for that I am sorry.

"I've never really concerned myself with the passage of time and getting older. But, as time has gone by I find myself, more and more, thinking about how much time I have left. I try to visualize what I want to do with that time. I thought we had a plan, but I was wrong. It has given me a sense of urgency. Whatever the duration of my life is, I don't intend to spend it with someone who wanted me to place my dreams on hold for ten to fifteen years so she could live hers. I don't want to take my last breath and have my final thought be, "damn I wish I would have......

"The simple fact is, I am done with my past and I'm ready to move on."

Rebecca made some notes and made the decision to spend future sessions focusing the discussion on Helena's need to accept the end of her marriage and move on with her life without Jordan in it.

After Jordan's extended soliloquy, both Helena and Rebecca were silent for an uncomfortable period of time. There didn't seem to be anything left to say.

Story Epilogue: Jordan was looking forward to the Mediterranean cruise in a couple of weeks with Anita, but there was some unfinished business to attend to first. The divorce had been finalized a couple of months ago. The house was sold and going to close escrow in a few days. The moving company had already come and gone. It only took them about six hours to end almost thirty-five years of a family home.

Jordan's relationship with his older daughter Sydney had improved dramatically after he filed for divorce. Somehow she finally recognized the truth of what her mother had done and the courage it took for her father to do what he did. Jordan felt a new found respect from Syd that he hadn't had in some time, which touched him greatly.

On the other hand, Darby had made good on her threat to cut him out of her life. He had in fact never seen his third grandchild. Oh he saw pictures of her through Sydney and Helena, but it made him sad just the same. But, Jordan understood an absolute truth. Parents always love their children more than the children love their parents. You always love your kids, but you don't necessarily like them when they grew into adults. That was the case with Jordan and Darby.

Helena and Jordan were packing up the last few boxes of books they were splitting between them. Jordan could see that Helena was becoming emotional as she was starting to tear up.

Helena looked at Jordan forlornly and simply declared, "Jordie, I'm sorry I did this to us."

Although he still felt gratitude for their life together as well as compassion for her personally, he succinctly replied. "I'm not."

He picked up his two boxes and walked out the door without so much as a glance back at his past.

Epilogue Helena, Sydney, and Darby

Jordan and Helena's relationship remained cordial and they saw each other on occasion, but other than their children and grandchildren they no longer had anything else in common.

Jordan's relationship with Sydney remained strong for the rest of his life. Sydney liked Anita very much and frequently told her how happy she was that her dad had found her. They saw his grandchildren from Syd only on occasion because their lives had carried them across the country, but they both were very proud to call him grandpa.

Darby never saw or even spoke to her father again. She was divorced about 5 years after her parents divorce was finalized. It was initiated by her husband, citing "irreconcilable differences" although the PI reports indicated otherwise. Ultimately she moved in with her mother.

Helena worked at her job until she was in her late 70's. She died a lonely woman never again having traveled beyond the county borders of where she resided except on business.

Epilogue Anita & Jordan

Anita and Jordan spent the rest of their long lives traveling the world together. However their true love was crisscrossing America in Anita's motorhome experiencing all the beauty and cultures the country had to offer. One summer they did attend baseball games in all thirty major league parks, as well as several minor league stadiums too.

They never married, and in point of fact they maintained separate households. And although they became intimate and did everything together as a couple, but they never saw any need to do otherwise. Besides they joked with each other that they saw no reason to risk a great friendship.

As they approached their late seventies they became a little despondent because it was becoming more difficult for them to handle the rigors of travel. Then providence knocked on Jordan's front door while he and Anita were having a quiet dinner. He answered the door to find a young lady with a familiar look about her, standing on his front porch.

"Hi, my name is Helen. Today is my 18^th Birthday, and I believe you are my Grandpa." She stuck her hand out and shook Jordan's vigorously.

Jordan broke down crying and hugged her tightly because Darby had never relented in her refusal to let her child become part of his life. Jordan looked past Helen and saw his other two grandchildren leaning up against their rental car with huge smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes. Patricia and Tom climbed into their car and drove away waving.

From that point forward Helen was a constant travel companion for Anita and Jordan. At some point she even took over the driving of their 33' motorhome. She became their de facto travel agent, driver, and luggage porter for the next fifteen or so years. It seemed Helen had put her life on hold to make up for everything she had missed growing up with her grandpa in her life.

Because Anita had no real family left, she referred to Helen her daughter. At some point Helen moved in with Anita.

Anita and Jordan were together until Jordan finally passed at the age of 93. Anita followed him two weeks later. It only seemed right. They were buried side by side because good friends should never be separated.

Writer's Note:

I wanted to take a little time to thank a reader with whom I had an email exchange. Her name is Lauren. She had contacted me to respectfully argue about the concept of one of my "hall pass" type stories, sometimes known as the "wife gets hit with Martian slut ray."

My counter argument was and remains that in most of my stories I really am not writing about the wife's infidelity, rather the husband's reaction to the betrayal. The wife's unfaithfulness is simply the literary vehicle I use.

That being said she did start me thinking about trying to come up with a more pragmatic story line as to why the wife would request that her husband let her have sex outside the marriage. I attempted to do that with this story.

Don't misunderstand me; I am not condoning the wife's behavior, just trying to offer a more realistic view on the subject? I think a lot of people, especially women, but men too, in their late 40's and beyond can relate to Helena's and Jordan's circumstance.