Thursday, February 18, 2021

Nae Auld Lang Syne.

 Once upon a time that was a woman who was coming out of a shockingly awful marriage, and she wasn't going to ever get married again. Ever. Ever. Ever. 

Except that there was this man from work, who really kind of pursued the new girl. He said all the right things, and he was very nice. Against her own better judgement, she went on a date. There was another. After a couple months, out of the blue, he pulled her aside to say that he didn't think he wanted to date her anymore. 

She cried, but she went back to her solitary life with her kids and really wondered about her character defects. It seemed men liked her well enough until they got to know her. What on earth could be wrong with her? But did it really matter, if you were not ever going to get married again? Ever? Ever? Ever? 

Within days, her phone was ringing, and the man from work said, "Listen, I can't stop thinking of you, and I think that I made a terrible mistake..." and he talked about how badly he had been hurt before, all because he'd fallen fast and hard. And because it was happening again, he got scared. 

He begged for another chance. 

The chance was given.

This time, it was only a matter of days. He decided once again that he was making a big mistake. He told the woman he did not want to see her again. 

And once again, there were long sleepless nights of self doubt and tears. She changed shifts to make sure that she didn't have to see him everyday. She also realized she was probably a real dumb ass. 

Months later, there was a knock on the door. He stood there, awkwardly. He wanted to apologize. Quite shockingly, he also proposed. 

She did not let him in the house, but they sat on the porch for a bit. She declined his proposal and said, "You want what you don't have. As soon as you have it, you don't want it anymore." And she explained that she was not ever getting married again. Ever. Ever. Ever.

He cried. 

She said goodbye, and she did not cry because she'd gotten her crying done some time back. 

She watched him go and went back into the house, and her life and her kids. 

Today, standing in the checkout line, two people happened to exchange glances. One quickly turned away. The other marveled over the fact that, 25 years later, she was no longer that 40 year old dumb ass.


Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?

Turns out that sometimes that answer is yes. 

I loaded my groceries in the car, and returned the cart to the store. 

And then I went home. 


12 comments:

  1. I really wondered if it was going to be beautiful love story or not. I think 'she' made the right decision at the time.

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  2. You have got 5he makings of a very good movie script there. Perhaps it could have two different endings?

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  3. An intelligent woman who knows how to make good decisions.
    I am ashamed to say that my low self esteem 20 years ago would have had me clutching at the first person to profess love or affection. I would be doomed.

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  4. Well, I guess that I probably was that person too, Jaycee. It still is kind of embarrassing that I ever was. Northsider, ultimately there came a different ending. I met Tim. He got to know me and stuck around anyway. 24 years later, he's still sticking around. I'm sticking around too.

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  5. That wasn't the ending that I expected.

    Congrats on telling the story very well.

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  6. One of my favorite songs of all time. Dan died much too young and I have spent time pondering what songs he would have crafted had he lived longer.

    Although I love the song, it really doesn't speak about my life in anyway. The song that speaks to me more is probably Garth Brook's song Unanswered Prayers.

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  7. Love can be so confusing. I don't know if anyone sees it clearly from within, especially when it first begins. But I must say "the woman's" assessment of the man's motives was quite insightful and sounds very on-target.

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  8. I love Dan Fogelberg! You had a lucky escape although it was probably hard to see it at the time.

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  9. You had to wait a while before you found Prince Tim but thankfully it all worked out in the end. You gave the other fellow two chances and he screwed up. He was a fool to himself.

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  10. Love the way you delivered that story. You should take up writing. I'm far too soft for my own good, I feel other peoples pain and end up being the one that's hurt.

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  11. A good ending!
    It is too easy to make the wrong mistake over again...been there, done that...trusted my intuition this time..success!Third time lucky!!

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