DESCRIPTION
It isn't always the earth-shaking things that change the course of one's life. Sometimes it's something as simple as a phone call... [678 words]
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
I'm a freelancer currently living in North Carolina. Prior to relocating, I wrote a book review column for "Southeast Florida Lifestyles" [March 2001]
AUTHOR'S OTHER TITLES (2) Let's Have Some Fun With H M Os (Essays) A satirical look at the dismal state of healthcare today. [572 words] [Humor] South Florida Memoirs (Essays) The recent election fiasco in Florida didn't surprise me a bit. When I lived there, I came to realize the whole state operates under Murphy's Law. [565 words] [Humor]
A Guy Thing Georgia Kraff
It was an innocent call. A man named Mike asking for John. Said he was a friend from the job site. Asked who I was. "I'm his wife, Mike." His casual response changed my life forever. "Oh...do you remember me? I met you in Daytona when John brought you there for Bike Week."
My face flushed and my heart pounded. Bike Week. That was in March. Right after John bought the Harley Davidson. I had begged him to take me with him to Daytona and he had laughed. Said Bike Week was a guy thing. Seems like there had been alot of guy things over the past three years or so.
I couldn't speak. I could barely breathe. Shaking, I dropped the receiver. I can't remember if Mike was still talking. It didn't matter. Twenty-two years to build a life together; 45 seconds to realize it was all a mirage.
Oh, of course the erosion had started years before, but I didn't see it until that morning when it all started to make sense. A litany of events. His two-hour Saturday morning donut runs. Last year's Christmas present. What I asked for was a negligee from Victoria's Secret. What I got was a salad shooter from Sears. Boy, what I'd like to stick in that salad shooter now.
Rita Rudner said male menopause is alot more fun than female menopause. In female menopause you get hot flashes and gain weight. In male menopause you get to drive hot cars and date young girls. Only in this case, the car had two wheels and an eagle on the tank.
The front door opened and John walked in. I screamed that his buddy had blown the whistle on him. On and on I raved, all the confusion and frustration of years past spewing out.
My husband, the father of my two wonderful sons, the man who had slept beside me for twenty-two years, just stood there. Those blue eyes...the eyes I once thought could see into my soul, were shards of ice. He told me I was crazy. But he had been telling me I was crazy for years.
A ray of hope. It wasn't true. Mike must've had the wrong number. If John's saying I'm crazy, he must mean: "How could you even think such a crazy thing? I love you."
But what he told me was that I could believe whatever I wanted. He couldn't care less. What HE wanted, however, was OUT. The "charade" had gone on long enough. He hadn't loved me in years. In years.
I wanted to kill him. I wanted to hug him and make him remember that he did love me. He MUST love me. I was his wife. Forsaking all others. Till death do us part.
I reeled backward, falling into the couch. I moaned. John turned and walked from the room. The man who had proposed four times before I accepted, who had stood beside me through childbirth, little league games, garage sales and funerals had dismissed me.
The 23-year-old girl who had sworn to give the boot to any man who had the audacity to cheat on her was now a 45-year-old woman who would've given ten years of her life to hear the words, "Baby, I'm sorry...it's true. I screwed up, but I'm sorry. I love you. Let's work this through."
Four-and-a-half years have passed since the incident and the subsequent divorce. The man who once stood by me as my lover and my friend has since stood beside me through the marriages of our sons and the birth of a granddaughter.
Time truly does heal all. I've gotten to know and even like the woman who accompanied my then-husband to Daytona and with whom he has lived for the past four-and-a-half years. And it was with only the slightest bit of satisfaction that I heard the news that he's leaving her. Seems he lowered the boom after returning from a fishing trip. A trip she hadn't been invited on. Just one of those guy things, I guess.
READER'S REVIEWS (3) DISCLAIMER: STORYMANIA DOES NOT PROVIDE AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR REVIEWS. ALL REVIEWS ARE PROVIDED BY NON-ASSOCIATED VISITORS, REGARDLESS OF THE WAY THEY CALL THEMSELVES.
"Bastard. My heart sunk when I read the first paragraph! Im sure its easier to write a stroy that is true since you really made me understand how completely horrible that situation must have been...." -- Emcee Teacup.
"I think the beginning of the story was the best part. I read over it twice because the first time I really did not get the point. I think it is a perfect way to get the reader's attention. You had mine instantly. This is a very good story and I really enjoyed reading it." -- Ryan Grelecki.
"Good story. You captured the mood of what you were feeling immediently, which was nice because it got the readers involved right away.Nice to know that he left the other women. What goes around comes around!!" -- Kristen.
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