Two years and nine months later,
I find myself at a loss for words and reminding myself to breathe when an old
work acquaintance asked today, "How's hubby?" *Breathe* My mind went into overdrive trying
to find the right words and the first thing that came out was, "Hubby's
Dead." *Gasp* Did that really come out of my mouth?
This wonderful man wore a look of
shock and I watched as his mind kicked into overdrive equally trying to find an
appropriate response. I am certain that
his thoughts were scrambling to define "dead" for it certainly must
have been difficult to associate "separation" and "divorce"
with Bill and I so that only left ...
I quickly eased his unease with
the offering of the details I have so often rhymed off. With genuine concern in his voice in his
eyes, he offers, "I'm so sorry."
Nice. Wanting to respond to his
sincere condolences, I quickly responded, "Me too!" *Groan*
What's wrong with me? Well
honesty is the best policy - I AM sorry.
Replaying the conversation in my
head, I think that it was not half bad. Acknowledging
the fact that I could be light hearted about the subject, I see growth. By doing so, it quickly put the rest of our
conversation on a brighter path. We
spoke about children and the many other common interests in life then promised
to keep in touch.
Silver lining ....
*** Sigh ***
ReplyDeleteI had the same thing happen to me at about the same point in time. A woman came up to me at church and asked how my husband was doing, since we mentioned his name in the prayers so often. (Ummm... yeah ... in the prayers for the DEAD.) She was aghast when I told he'd been dead for two years. (In her defense, English is not her first language, and at that point she and her family were coming only once a month or so.)
But it does catch you like a sucker-punch to the gut. Hugs and love to you ...