Other Men's Cross are not my own

I woke up this morning, and a wave of sadness rushed over me like tsunami. I went back to bed and woke up at 1PM. I had been dreaming about Rod.

When I was about 20 years old, Rod, gave me some very important advice regarding a boyfriend I had who had a drinking problem.

He said "Contessa, your shoulders are only this wide" Gesturing the distance from one of my shoulders to the other.

"You can't carry your own cross and other people's full time. You can give them relief from time to time and if they love you, they will give you relief from time to time. "

"What my mother, Nellie, used to say is, Other men's crosses are not my crosses."

I thought of that this morning. His 58th birthday would have been yesterday had he lived. We lost him last year to an accident resulting from the pain of the cancer that would ultimately get him.

Other men's crosses are not my crosses.

Do not get the idea that I have adopted my best friends issues as my own. I have not. I am, however, in the position to do the things that need doing on the research end that can help him and his family while they are still actively caring for his dying brother.

I had to decline learning how to feed him. It just was in so many ways the wrong thing to do. Though I love him, if something happened to his brother under my watch, I would never forgive myself. I offered to do anything else to help relieve the pressure.

So this is my choice. I called upon receipt of the desperation email that he sent and offered to assist in this way. And that was accepted.

So while it is someone Else's cross, I am carrying it for now. Because I love him and because I think his family needs relief. I know what this feels like. I was there with my dad. And I only carried the responsibility for 4 hours a day when he was home and all hospital trips were split between my stepmom and I. With that little bit, I was able to carry on for 7 years, with moving from one county to another to be closer, taking a job with the understanding that I would have to leave by a certain time to be home for my shift.

Given the fact that my dad has been gone now 4 years in June, I realize that I still have 3 years to go before I am out of that situation as long as I was in it.

It's ironic. The day my dad died, I stood on the scale and realized that it was at a number that I wasn't happy with, but my clothing still fit.

I remember the day of the wake. The family went out to eat at the diner across the street from the funeral home. I ate like I had never seen food before. And didn't care. After the last person left the funeral home that night, I went out with the family again, and ate like I had never seen food before.

I gained 42 pounds in the 4 years after my dad died. 42 lbs sitting in WW meetings week after week. I can only imagine how much more that number would be if I hadn't been sitting there.

But, I lost 18 of that. Actually its close to 20 now. I only have 22 to go to get back to where I was 4 years ago.

It's funny, I picked up someone Else's cross and carried it, while working, hard, on my own.


I'm not upset about my decisions here. I made them, intelligently, and I didn't do it with any ulterior motives. I did this for someone I care about, because he asked for help. Being a person who doesn't often ask for help, and loving someone who is exactly like that himself, when it is asked for, it's usually way past the point where it will be easy. And it's not. But it is something that I am good at and capable of doing. I have the right people in place, the right information available and I am putting the files together to make this task easier on the family.


When my dad died, I didn't know what I needed. He showed up at my door with Chinese food and a six pack of beer for him and my favorite wine for me. He slept on the couch. The next night, another friend who was not going to be up here for the funeral, showed up with dinner and took all calls for me. Another friend, showed up one night with the biggest frozen yogurt she could muster up and stayed with me that night.


These people, these very same people are the people that his email was addressed to. I had dinner last night with with the friend who brought the yogurt and her mom. This dinner served a couple of things. I haven't seen her mom in awhile, so that was nice. I needed to be with this friend. She is the one who has my dad hanging around her aura. It got me out of the house AND Her mom is one of those formidable people who knows everyone in the town. She is going to be an asset here. I am already in discussions about jobs for him with her.


In times of trial, these people picked up my cross and carried it. They got me through the funeral and kept me busy and occupied for months afterwards.


That's love. That's what love is too.

Love is touching souls

Just before our love got lost you said
I am as constant as a northern star
And I said, constant in the darkness
Wheres that at?
If you want me I'll be in the bar

Just before our love got lost assumes that it will be found again. The universe is a funny thing. There is a school of thought that says that each person has a missing half - their soul mate. The person that completes them. So if you " lose your love" one time it's probably safe to assume that person isn't your soul mate. But if it comes up a second time, wouldn't the universe be trying to tell you something? Should we not be paying attention here?

On the back of a cartoon coaster
In the blue TV screen light
I drew a map of Canada
Oh Canada
And your face sketched on it twice

And it wasn't Canada. it was the united states, drawn freehand with almost each state correctly placed and shaped including capitals. I was 10 and I was at party. A party of my dad's after one of his shows. For his students. My best friend was the choreographer for the show. He took the drawing with him.

No, he doesn't still have it. But it was the only thing I ever drew that was, well, obvious, but it was also REALLY good. My dad was shocked. Drawing was never my thing.

Oh you are in my blood like holy wine
Oh and you taste so bitter but you taste so sweet
Oh I could drink a case of you
I could drink a case of you darling
And I would still be on my feet
Oh I'd still be on my feet

I love the imagery in the chorus of this song. He is in my blood, my heart and my soul. The good AND the bad. My best friend. And the idea of a world without him in it is so unbelievably surreal. And yet, it nearly came to pass. My choosing not to see him or be in touch with him was largely assuming that he would just refrain from calling me on the phone or sending email. What I was not anticipating was the mortality of either of us. So his seriously considering ending his life over his family situation still has me reeling.

He is not a stupid man. He knows that solutions to this problem exist and he had to be pushed to the point that he is at to ask for help. But he did. He asked.

Oh I am a lonely painter
I live in a box of paints
I'm frightened by the devil
And I'm drawn to those ones that ain't afraid
I remember that time that you told me, you said
Love is touching souls
Surely you touched mine
Cause part of you pours out of me
In these lines from time to time

Because he did ask me for help, I can't deny him. Love is touching souls. Our souls are touching even if there is fear in the way. And every time I cry or every time I sing, a part of me and a part of him pours forth. I sang today at my lesson and all the stress and emotion that I have been dealing with came pouring out in music I was just sight reading. My coach was stunned. So was I for that matter. But it's an artistic outlet much like the painter reference in this song.

Oh you are in my blood like holy wine
And you taste so bitter but you taste so sweet
Oh I could drink a case of you
I could drink a case of you darling
Still I'd be on my feet
And still be on my feet

I can't even imagine myself with another person. If I'm being honest with myself, I never did. I never saw myself with anyone else and because he didn't want me all those years ago, for good reasons, I just assumed would date guys,. have relationships with them, but ultimately end up alone. And you know what? I was OK with that. A friend of the family once told me right after I graduated from college, that I shouldn't just settle. So I didn't.

I met a woman
She had a mouth like yours
She knew your life
She knew your devils and your deeds
And she said
Color go to him, stay with him if you can
Oh but be prepared to bleed

This is the voice in my soul. This voice, which I never heard before now, is saying, stay with him,, stay near him during this time of tragedy for him, don't abandon him. This voice is the woman. This voice has a mouth like his and knows his devils ad his deeds. It's the voice of twin souls fused together at the helm for some cosmic reason.

Oh but you are in my blood you're my holy wine
Oh and you taste so bitter, bitter and so sweet
Oh I could drink a case of you darling
Still I'd be on my feet
I'd still be on my feet

I don't understand the connection that keeps drawing us back together. For any reason, as friends, as lovers, as both. But I do know that a world without him in it, is no world that I want to live in. I would, but I would be miserable. He would be the same. His exact words were "Never seeing you again? Not speaking to you again? It's not acceptable to me. I can't live like that".

It's a very trying time. As of now, we have passed out of the danger zone, and while there is no firm plan in place as yet, we have a lot of information in front of us to start weeding through and making some educated decisions on the welfare of his family and himself so he can start healing.

Then we can start healing.


Lyrics to "A Case of you" by Joni Mitchell

Opening Night

Tonight is opening night for my college Room-mates show. It's the first one she's been in in roughly 15 years. She has the lead.

None of us were surprised. She is a wildly talented and amazing person. She blows me away in the talent department. I couldn't have pulled off a lead after a 15 year hiatus. I study heavily n now and couldn't pull it off.

I am so incredibly proud of her. She has spent this last year re-discovering herself. It's really amazing to see the girl that I knew FINALLY allowed morph into the woman she should have become.

I sent her flowers to celebrate opening night. We had a really awesome chat for an hour or so. I haven't been able to talk to her because of the demanding rehearsal schedule of this show. It's just been crazy.

So we chatted today. We talked about some funny things that happenedd in her life, we talked about the show and what the critics will think. I have someone going to it in my place as I am too far away to make the trip. I wish I could have though. What a great come back - the lead in this show!

We talked a bit about what's happening in my life. She doesn't care for this man too much and i don't blame her because all she has heard lately is bad and negative. Which unfortunately is what all of you have been hearing. But we talked about it and she understands where I am coming from but she tested me.

She asked me if I would marry him if he asked right now.

I said not if he wanted to get married right away. The answer to that is no. But if he wanted to get engaged and get counseling??? yes.

She told me I passed. Which was good. because I didnt' study!!!!!

Ahhhh - it's college all over again!!!!! I didn't study!!!

But it was so good to even do gmail chat with her. When we signed off, I cried a bit. I admit it. I just miss her. Especially now. When I need her and when she is doing something really huge like this!

But I want to offer my congratulations to her - again. I'm so proud of her for doing this! Its really huge and I'm glad she's getting her life back!!!!

A day long overdue

I was going through my day fairly normally.

leader started off this morning with 42 minutes and 6 seconds of idiocy. I hadn't even had coffee yet. And there's nothing like the project manager on the call with you, wishing like hell she hadn't bridged you up.

All we did was talk numbers and have an elementary math lesson while he tried to figure out where the bottleneck was. Now I, along with my PM, tried to shorten this exercise by TELLING him where it was, but he does not listen, loves to lecture, and holds us hostage till he finds his answer.

Annoyed ? yes. Earth shattering? eh - not so much. But I have to be honest here, this is the thing that drives my team bananas. And my poor PM is learning the hard way that don't bridge him up with ANYONE if you can help it.

So I was working through a lot of issues and realized that I was sitting in the wrong outlook profile for the better part of a hour and did a mental headslap. Duh. No wonder I wasn't getting any work email!

Boy was I sorry I switched.

I logged in, joined my 1:30 PM conference call, and started to catch up on the email that I had neglected inadvertently.

The first one I saw was from my best friend. It was pretty bad. He is so far down deep in the depression related to being the primary caregiver to his brother, that he was actually talking about some pretty permanent solutions.

I started to cry that he hurts this bad, but worse, none of it was news to me.

I called him, he called me back literally within seconds of seeing the call come through. We talked for about 15 minutes and I gave him the ready solutions that I have had for awhile. He just needed to be receptive and he wasn't nor was his family.

He told me who he addressed that email to. I gathered that the Whore wasn't on it, but he wasn't that specific.

He gave his schedule through Sunday and I have asked him to make some time for him and come over here so we can research getting his education resumed via the military and jobs and such. He can't wait to do this, he sounded better at the end of that call then I have heard him in 10 days,.

I called a friend who had mentioned a hospice that relates to the terminal disease his brother has and asked her to get me as much information as she could. She totally rocks and she delivered it to my door about a hour ago.

Further motivated I checked the Civil Service exams being given in our county.

I am compiling a list of questions that we need to get answered to move forward with a lot of this.

Then another friend who received the email called, obviously upset and a bit out of the loop. I filled her in and we talked about it. Both us got choked up at the tone of the email and she's traveling right now. She has offered her mom's assistance ( the woman is scary. 85 years old and she knows LITERALLY everyone in town. All we have to do is give her the specs and she will find him a job ). I told her that he's going to come over at some point by Monday or Tuesday and we will sit down and work out the details of the plan and start executing them point by point.

He was so relieved that I had ready info for him. But I knew this day was coming, and try as I might to head it off, if the family wasn't ready to hear the info about hospice, it would only aggravate them further and that isn't right either.

This is another stressor in the saga, but honestly, I think this is why my dad was attached to my friend. She's the one who called me as she received the email. My stepmom said that today and I was surprised. She thought for sure it was about her.... ( no one else did. just her) initially. I knew it had to do with me and I was reasonably confident that it was about this situation I am in with this man.

I can't explain this, but he was so relieved that I called. When I picked up the phone, he was tense and I was quiet. ( For those of you who know me, no commentary please). I said

"I got your email. We are going to get you through this. I have the name of a hospice that supports terminal illness. It's time. He needs to be there. It's better for him and better for you and you family."

It was met with silence. I suspect he was choked up a little. Then he said, quietly

"You and I have talked about everything in that email already. it's not new information to you. But I sent it to my family, mutual friend upstate and one or two other trusted friends including landlady. I need to make time for me now. I can't fix this. It's TERMINAL"

I responded to him, calmly, certainly more calmly than I felt

"We are going to get you through this. I know the director at the library, we can get you signed up for some of the basic utility civil service jobs that will give you a paycheck while you go back to school and get your training or degree. You need to make some time for you to come over here and lets make the plan and look at the options. I have a bottle of Vodka with your name on it so martinis ca be made. "

"You can't know how good that sounds. Here's my schedule through Monday. I'll call you and we'll sort this out"

I hung up. I cried stress tears only. It's a lot of stress to be this close to someone a few years older than me that is terminal.

I can't watch someone I love in so much pain that he was seriously considering a solution so permanent it helps no one. I couldn't let this go when I have some solutions readily at hand. It's not my personal battle, though in a sense it is. it's been a long road with this illness. I have been there from the beginning. This day was inevitable.

I'm just sorry that our own issues interfered with it or were interfered with before we settled it. This might settle it either way. We'll see.

I have no regrets about this choice and this decision. I'm doing something that's good and altruistic. It's helping someone that I love get their bearings in place. I can't knowingly let someone hurting so badly, flail in the wind.

And I would do it for any of you too...

The upside of misery

I'm not miserable one hundred percent of the time.

I would suffice it to say I am probably nont even miserable seventh-five percent of the time.

But when it hits, it hits hard.

The upside of all of this is, though I ordered the largest size coldstone makes last night for dinner, I didn't finish even half. Even picking at it at ten PM last night.

And somehow or another, still managed another 1.2 lbs down.

I was reading some of my own work last night, and was actually kind of impressed with The Garden. That was really decent writing. And I love that song. So I bought it and the overture to Candide last night on Itunes. I wish there was a way to play the song in Blogger while you are reading the post. It's the absolute coolest thing. That's what I did, I put it on my IPOD and read the post. It really was neat to have the music going while you are reading the words and the insight.


The upside to all this introspection and licking of wounds is, I suppose that since this hasn't killed me, it should make me stronger, right?


Or my favorite, God doesn't give you more than he thinks you can handle. Not as convinced here. But the jury is out for now.


I slept fine and had a migraine in the wee small hours of the morning. It's gone to a degree now. I am drinking a lot of coffee to help keep it gone.


I was whining yesterday. I know this. I admit and acknowledge it. Expect more since the situation is at a standstill for awhile.


A colleague of mine said something similar happened to her. And her response was really interesting. While on paper it looks like I have "more" than he does, what I get from him is as important as all that other stuff. I don't neccessarily need to be on equal footing with my partner in the possessions and finance stuff, just in the emotional and love stuff.


And he does give me that. And I give him that. That's what makes us, well, us. That's the good stuff, the stuff that sends my heart swirling no matter how long we are together, days, months, years.

The one thing that kind of worries me is when things are at a standstill, people can get comfortable with status quo. I am the one who put it on hold and I reserve the right to remove it from hold once I sense that the situation with his brother is under control.

I'm back to the dull ache from the hole in my heart. No tears today. Not even one.

I can't say I"m better, but I can say that I am trying to manage. One must crawl before one cann walk.

Waterworks

Yes that's right. The tears have started. Again.

Frankly, I don't understand it. Any of it. I shouldn't be crying anymore.

And I shouldn't "Should" myself as my very first WW leader would say.

Everything makes me cry. Literally everything.

I mean, what the HELL was God thinking here? What's the entire purpose of this exercize? To prove that I can feel pain? Good JOB MISSION FUCKING ACCOMPLISHED! What Else to prove that I still love him? DUH!!!!!!! To bring back to me in the capacity that he did only to be treated badly? Are you KIDDING ME????? This is freaking absurd!!! If this is the message, somebody majorly screwed up here. No one and I mean no one, should have to feel the kind of pain that I am in right now. And to be in a situation like I am in ???? Just freaking shoot me. It will hurt a lot less.

For example. Home. Working. half paying attention to the TV. I think the show on may have The Reba show. All I remember hearing was "I think I did make mistake in leaving you" and I disolved into tears. I don't know the circumstances, I wasn't following the story line, that one independent line and I was done.

I got an email today. From one my girlfriends. YOu know the ones... tell your friends you love them because you don't know if you will not get the chance blah blag blah. Done.

MOre tears.

Pictures from the birthday from hell came in. Done. Tears.

Heard some discussion about soul mates on some other show. I can't even tell you what show it was or the context. Done. tears.

I gave up on TV by this time. I grabbed my hand bag and went to the pharmacy to pick my prescription. I picked up the wrapping paraphenalia for his birthday gift. I decided to look at cards. What on EARTH went through my mind. I picked up the first card. I should have bought that one in retrospect and may go back with a clearer head. I through it back at the rack and perused the freezer section for ice cream.

I cried in the car - in silence - no music even to bring it on. Hell I am having the breakdowns now just based on my thoughts??? great.

I leak tears at any given moment.

I ate Coldstone for dinner. I didn't even enjoy it that much. 3/4 of it is still in the freezer. I haven't been off the couch since 6:30.

I just want my life back less the drama. I want HIM back less the drama.

This SUCKs.

and the best part, do you know what the best part of all this is????? I am doing this alone. almost exclusively. With the exception of the readership of my blog, it's only me here in person.

I am not good at asking for help, so when I do and it's turned down, I don't put up a fuss or fight, I just retreat to the corner and lick my wounds.

I'm in the corner if anyone needs me.

I'm firing my screenwriter

There comes a time when we have to say goodbye to people that work for us.

Such a time has come for my screen writer.

This magical person, who has written a great number of episodes in my life has put me on a bad path as acting goes. The only acting role worse than this is being in a coma or playing a corpse.

You see, my character has so much potential and so many good story lines to flesh out, and yet, this screenwriter of mine, apparantly finds humor in making The Contessa's love life, tragic.

This is a story line that has a happy ending in sight. Yet does the screenwriter write it that way? no. Why? A really bad sense of humor, that's why.

So screenwriter needs to get fired.

I need to hire a new screenwriter who will write the chapters and scenes in such away that I am not constantly under the emotional stress that screenwriter A continues to write for me.

By Firing my ficitious screenwriter that gives me the option of hiring a new one ( fictitious of course) or writing the scenes myself.

Here's the problem with writing me own stuff.

I am my own screenwriter. So I am really firing myself.

Huh. What to think about that one.

Hmmm.

In order to think about this and really sort it out, I Went to see makeup artist. I had Microdermabrasion done ( lovin that!) and bought a kit to do in the house. In three short days, my face looks amazing. And the skin was pretty good to start with! Then she put on some different eyemakeup - I bought one of the colors and the eyeliner. Then we played with lips, I bought a new lip color that I love. So I got my new skin care and some fun makeup for myself.

After that, I returned to my home and went next door to see neighbors new kitchen. He's my costume designer (or one of), and approved of my new sarong skirt. I have a real one that I bought last summer and didn't get to wear it due to the weather change. It's gorgeous. All shades of Blues. I had on a blue tank top with satin trim. It was lovely... Hair piled high on my head.

Then we ended up chatting with neighbor number 2.

I told Costume Designer that I was firing screen writer. He laughed. He thinks I should fire screenwriter too!

You see the basic problem with Screenwriter is Screenwriter belabors the point. OK. We're perfect together, OK we've tried this once, broken up, stayed friends, gotten together again and broken up. Are you freaking kidding me? can we cut through the 4 seasons of he said she said, dating others, jealousy, etc and just cut to the chase and get married?

This is why the Screenwriter has to go. The drama. I need that gone. So. Exit current screenwriter and enter new screenwriter.

Oh yeah.

The old screenwriter is me and the new one is still me. I'm just trying to creatively change the scripting so that there is less drama but I get fulfilling scenes that make me happy in the long run.

And I haven't a clue how to do it!

Moments of good

I have spent a lot of time writing about the things that are wrong and not working in my "whatever we call it now" relationship.

But, as is typical of human nature, we tend to focus on the bad and less on the good. You know the saying "Good news travels fast, Bad news travels faster"? The same is true when you hear about relationships.

Generally when things are good solid and working, unless it's brand new, you don't really hear about it. Why ? Because things are good and working and little to no additional stress or effort needs to be expended.

So it's natural that the last couple of weeks of posts have been on the negative side. Because we broke off the relationship. A lot of information that wasn't presently out there, was shared between us. And temporarily we have just put the whole thing on hold pending the outcome of his brother's immediate health challenge.

I received some good and interesting advice from a first time reader/commenter last week. I really liked his comment and perspective and it resonated with me so much that I can still recount what he said without looking it up. But for the moment I will past it in properly so as not to misquote.

In response to my post titled "The reprieve is over", I received the following comment:

"You're right C. but you have to be very sure of who you are now and who you are likely to be in your futures. Humanity needs clear minded tough cookies to love our misfits back into functionality. But is a thankless task and rarely gets positive results. If he wants to be proved unloveable maybe he has the right to choose that path. Do what will make you happiest with your life. Bon chance,"

I keep thinking about this. He does have the right to choose the path he is on. The only thing I feel differently about is that I don't think he has actually, intellectually made that choice. Based on all our discussions over the years, he reacts first and thinks second. He didn't used to be this way. When I was about 6 years old, He actually thought through a plan of action for his life that would have put both of us on very different paths today. He wanted to marry the woman he'd been seeing and set up a future for them both. He made a choice that would enable that plan to work out, only he failed to implement it properly so things didn't work out the way he wanted them to. Great plan but poorly executed. The woman broke up with him, though the three of us are great friends today. And he never really recovered from this. So instead of planning out his life, creating a future and executing the plan with the wisdom that comes with age, he reacts to the curve balls and than later, reviews things and gets depressed about how things are shaping up.

Again the psychologist in my comes out and says, "he refuses to plan because the plan always backfires and he pays for it". and then the logical person says, "learn how to plan idiot!".

The thing of it is, he is afraid of a relationship with me because he is afraid that he will be using me for security. While that may be a benefit, I certainly don't believe that is the only reason for the relationship.

For all the bad things that have happened and all the information that I have had thrown at me in really 2 weeks, it occurred to me that I was only focusing on the things that were bad. If it were all bad, I wouldn't have stuck it out this long. The situation, as I see it, is that I keep talking about the bad stuff, but please remember there are so many good things in him and in us together. The time we spend together is always good. I will try to make sure that I am adding the good stuff too. The roller coaster that we have been on has had equal hills and valleys.

Loving him means loving all of him, even the bad. But it does NOT mean accepting bad behaviour. He no longer has the option of bad behaviour and my excusing it. And while the duration has only been a week and half, the behaviour has improved. We'll see how the future unfolds.

This is going to sound incredibly corny. And it is. It truly is. But in April, when he came to me that Maundy Thursday, I looked in his eyes and I think my heart beat truly for the first time. So this while thing is terribly difficult for me.

And while we are sorting this out, I will continue to miss him terribly.

Women who need to go away to "think"

I have noticed that when I need to seriously sort out my life, I need to be far away from the day to day world that I live in.

Most times I pack my bags and go someplace. I once timed it perfectly so that I was sorting my life out IN Paris, Amsterdam and Brussells. I got a lot sorted out on the other side of the pond. All the things that were bothering me, didn't, so I was able to see what I needed to change. And in such a gorgeous place! But I do feel I missed a lot as I was absorbed with some major issues.

Some people tend to make fun of women who need to "get away" to sort things out. They don't understand that sometimes removing oneself from the day to day makes it easier to step back and look at the things that aren't working and create a plan with which to adjust and move forward.

It's really just a perspective thing. When you change the "view" of your life, it's easier to make the changes necessary. Think of Robin Williams with his Carpe Diem statement.... He made all those boys stand on the desk, view the room and then jump off. Everyone thought he was nuts but it changed the perspective of the room and new information was able to be seen and absorbed.

I've always done this. Even as a child I would take breaks from reality and visit my own little world in my head. As I got older, the divorce forced me to be in different places so the perspective was different evert 2 weeks. And summers.

I am at a disadvantage this time. I cannot take the amount of time needed to go someplace and sort things out. My job simply can't tolerate it right now. We are down people due to other vacations and the timing on my project is poor. It would be highly irresponsible of me to put ME first in this area.

Having done the unthinkable for me, I am even more surprised that I was able to do it without taking a trip somewhere, even for a day, to sort out and review the situation far away from the day to day. I should have though. THough I have no idea where I want to be either. I can go back Paris, but who wants to be in the city of Lights when you are heart is dark? Italy would depress me, The Carribean sounds wonderful but it's hurricane season. I can't afford Fire Island for more than a day trip, although the idea of sitting on a beach all day and then drinking at Flynns to the reggae band sounds like a hell of an idea. And I wouldn't be the first person to sleep on the beach when I missed the ferry back to mainland.

The fact is I retreated to my favorite childhood haunt. My head. From that safe place, I was able to make the decision that was most difficult for me. I am still not entirely secure with it and lets face it, it's far from over at this point.

I firmly believe that to get your bearings straight in order to make plans for your future, getting away from your past and present will help present them in a specific relief that helps you make more accurate and better decisions.

I was always the kid that thought I could fly. I was the kid who expected to grow up and be a princess. I was always a little bit dramatic and was called Sarah Heartburn by my mom throughout my life. The reality is, I am all those things. I may not be a princess, but I am a Contessa, I am dramatic and I am hiding behind my Dolce and Gabbana Sunglasses and a big floppy hat right now.

I am Rachel in "friends" and Grace in Will and Grace. When Grace breaks up with Nathan ( Woody Harrelson), she takes to her bed. She refuse to get up and when she does she brings the bed with her. At some point, she finds the slides of her childhood and makes Rosario watch them with her "Ro Ro where are you goin?" " I'm going out for some popsecret - I like a snack when I see a slide show."

I realized on the drive to my mom's on Wednesday that I was doing all of those things. I am more or less wearing the bed. I sleep all the time and on the drive to my moms, I drove through the development we grew up in ( the house was raised a number of years ago in order to BUILD the development but parts of the estate are still there), I then drove down the road that my best childhood friend grew up on ( her house is now pink - we just won't go there) and passed by Mark's house ( It looks EXACTLY the same) before turning the corner to my mom's condo. Each stop, or pause, brought memories flooding back about how much fun we had. The stupid things we all did. The laughs, the tears - all of it.

That was the review of my past.

I spoke to one of my best girlfriends today. She felt the pull to call me. She had had her aura read this week. There was a spirit attached to her, a mentor, with piano and keyboards, who passed on in the last 5 years. It was my dad. And she felt this urge to call me. We don't talk on the phone a lot, but even more rarely when we re both at home. She woke me up, and I wanted to wake up and talk to her.

We talked about the aura. I told her about all the psychic stuff that's been happening to me the last two weeks. It all seems related. It's like my dad is coming to me through her. Which means I must be ignoring his signs.... whatever they are.

That's the review of the future.

I told her the public stuff that's been going on with my best friend. She doesn't know the private. It's private. But, She does know that something is wrong. Something isn't well with me. She's right of course, but I can't tell her. I can't afford history to repeat itself.

We spoke for an hour. Afterwards I felt good. I got out of bed, I put on real clothes and went to Weight watchers. I lost 1.8 lbs. Then I went to pick up my Mary Kay products and then I went home.

This was a review of the present.

It was on the way home when I decided that I missed him and wanted to speak to him. I called his cell and told him that. He was softer on the phone. He really wants me to go to the party today. He said it again. I told him it will all depend on how fit for company I am. He laughed and said he totally understood. We had a nice talk. It was only a few minutes. I told him I was thinking about him and his brother and he said he really appreciates that. I told him if he wants to get away, my door is open. He said he would try tomorrow.

A review of the present.

I need to get away at some point. I do. But for now, I am using the escape hatch in my head. I am reviewing my past to see where I have been. I am reviewing the present to see what needs to change and hopefully by the time I can get away, I will have a better idea of what path I need to be on for my future.


But hey - I lost 1.8 for a grand total of 17.2. That is nothing to sneeze at!

The conundrum

This day could not get any stranger in terms of information if it tried.

I heard from my best friend today. As I mentioned in yesterdays post, his brother had another surgical procedure that has put him in tremendous pain, but they brought him home today. Unfortunately, they did outpatient training on one family member ( best friend) and the nursing company will not touch it. I just quietly listened to him as he spoke. He was again respectful and very nice, but I could hear how much effort was going into that. Not due to me, but due to the anger that he is realing with over having nurses who can't help because of red tape and paperwork. This means that he needs to be there all the time.

I asked if there was anything I could do. He asked me if I wanted to be trained to help feed his brother. Feeling positively awful, I had to decline. I can't do that. I couldn't do that with my own dad. I know it's just not a good idea. What if something happened to him? I would never forgive myself. I offered to do anything else, so he asked if I would turn pages for him while his brother reads ( he can't). Now THAT I can do.

He mentioned trying to get over here this weekend to talk. I told him that our issues will survive another week if need be, he needs to get a schedule and plan in place for his brother first.

He told me he canceled his class and his gigs. I was acutely disappointed. This is just another step backwards for him.

I could be wrong on this, but I feel that he is hostage to this situation. A willing one.

Yes, it's not my problem directly, but I feel like it does affect me to a degree. Not because I feel badly about his brother, because I do, and certainly not because I fully understand the draining of your life that this becomes, because I do. But because it's robbing a person I love of their own will to live. I don't mean live as opposed to die. I mean living in a shadow of a life.

All I want to do right now it is hug him and hold him and tell him that he is loved and that he is appreciated even when it is not said, or shown.

And I can't.

I spoke to step mom tonight. It was a perfectly lovely and fun conversation. Given the family connection with this other family, I mentioned the situation. She counceled me the same way that I ended up going. She basically said,

"You are a good person with a huge heart. You would do it out of the goodness that is you. And if something happened, you would never forgive yourself. "

She was right. We talked some more about how the situation is robbing my best friend of his life when she popped out with,

"You know, this is why your dad objected to him in the first place. He hadn't found himself yet and he was already in his 40's. Now he's in his 50's and he has a perfectly legit excuse for why he doesn't need to find himself. He has to fight it and the hardest thing in the world is fighting against your own family. But each day he loses a piece of himself. Eveyone knows how you two feel about each other. Your dad knew. He just wasn't comfortable with it. "

Now, this actually is very interesting. I had heard this from her one other time, but when it's said in anger by her, you can't always tell where the honesty is. So I never paid it mind. She repeated it verbatim tonight in a good secure way, so it has to be true. My dad would never have told me. But he would have told his wife to be sure.

what makes it so interesting is this is exactly what my best friend said to me. He thought very seriously about marrying me and how easy that would be. But he has no future. blah blah blah, I'm not writing the rest of it, you can go back to older posts to see the details on this part.

I just think it's very odd that my dad thought these things ( The two of them liked each other VERY much when I wasn't involved in the equation) and that my best friend echoed those parentaly concerns in our "what do we do now" conversation. ( It's still pending by the way).

I'm on an information overload today. I keep walking around the house in circles. I can't sit still for long. I try to practice and can't. I can't sit through a 30 minute sitcom, I'm tired but can't sleep. Eating, however, isn't a problem. Not excessive but not a problem. I just feel like I am at loose ends.

My poor faithful readers. When I started this blog, it was not supposed to go this way. But then I never intended or expected this whole scenario to happen. I started this blog as a way to write through the episodes of my life in a fair and constructive fashion that would help me learn more about myself and to handle life's curveballs better. This blog has certainly done that. Even in this situation, it really has. I am awed by your support and immeasurably comforted b by your presence in reading. I expect to be repetitive. I expect to be dramatic. I expect to have you ripping your own hair out, yelling "DON'T YOU GET IT YET?", I expect all of that to happen. I am trying to manage it better so that it's not so irritating in print.

The Garden

If relationship = gardens Then one person is the gardener and the other is flower that is being tended to.

"You've been a fool, and so have I
But come and by my wife.
And let us try, before we die,
To make some sense of life."

That Sounds like a great plan. I like it actually.

With one exception.

I don't believe that one person has exclusive rights as the Gardener and other as the flower.

I think in a relationship, the roles tend to switch depending on need.

"We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good;
We'll do the best we know.
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow,
And make our garden grow"

In my "whatever we are calling it now", I have been the Gardner for the past 3 months. I have weeded, I have nourished. I thought I was doing all the right things.

"I thought the world was sugar cake,
For so our master said.
But now I'll teach my hands to bake
Our loaf of daily bread."

But my Garden didn't grow. It started to wither and fail. And I blame myself in part for why that happened. I did the best that I could.

"We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good;
We'll do the best we know.
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow,
And make our garden grow..."

In all the time that I have known him, it wasn't until recently that I even ALLOWED myself to see a future with him. I worked with those goals in mind. I wasn't picky on the timeline either. I was even thinking about children. We both have so much to offer a child in terms of parenting and values and talents - can you imagine the musician that child would be? and dancing? I mean, we are talking a musical theater GENIUS. That would be our kid. And brilliant. and socially conscious. Politically unique ( him not me ). And the love of two parents and the multitudes of family that we both have.

"Let dreamers dream what worlds they please,
Those Edens can't be found.
The sweetest flowers, the fairest trees
Are grown in solid ground."

But unfortunately, fear is a powerful motivator. These things look wonderful on paper. They feel right in person. But if the garden is afraid to bloom for the Gardener, there is limited success to be had. The Gardner would have to be patient, coax the garden out slowly and patiently. Nurturing it, allowing for failures, enabling new ideas and allowing the garden the freedom to grow at its own pace.

But at some point. The Gardner has to decide when it's time to stop trying. Maybe the land isn't ready to be sown yet. Maybe the land needs rest until it is ready to take crops.

Maybe the land is not ready to grow the kinds of seeds that the Gardner is trying to plant. the seeds of love may not be the right thing for the land at this time. Maybe they will never be. Or maybe they need time and patience.

I guess what I am saying is that, I will keep doing the best that I know. I will keep trying to grow the garden until I have tried everything in my, albeit limited outside the metaphor, knowledge to get my garden to bear fruit. The fruit of love or friendship, or both.

A wise friend of mine, once said something brilliant to me about this very situation. She said that people who have this kind of connection and this kind of friendship and closeness with each other - they get married. They move in together. They love each other and they commit to one another.

"We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good;
We'll do the best we know.
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow,
And make our garden grow. "

And those people, the ones described in my friends' wisdom?

They make their garden grow.


Lyrics to "Make our Garden Grow" from Candide written by Leonard Bernstein

As long as NIagra Falls and as long as Gibralter stands

Or at the very least till Hell Freezes over....

I still love him and while there are time I wish to hell I didn't, there are times that I am not sorry that I do.

I spoke to him briefly today. I returned his call from Tuesday. He was busy at the hospital checking his brother out a day later than scheduled. But asked if he could call me "later". This is the kind of behaviour that keeps slightly at peace. And you know why? It's respectful and polite. The warmth and caring is apparent but it's slightly formal. I know that this is because he's trying to show respect and he's trying to do the right thing.

Now, as a teaching professional, I do need to let you know that when I was LEAST expecting it, I had to recognize his efforts.

1. He picked up the call while busy at the hospital - a fact that is unprecedented with us.
2. He talked for few minutes and then asked me if he could call back.

Here's the deal.

After I hung up I didn't investigate or ruminate about the call. I just went on about my business.

However when I was in the car, it occurred to me that love doesn't "just end" because you say it does or you even think it does or because you want it to.

And it hasn't.

Here's my problem. I have to address it sooner rather than later. If I wait till it happens, the anger and resurgence of emotion will destroy any of the fabric we are weaving today.

He's going to want to bring the Whore around. Perhaps even her kids. And I don't want to be anywhere near the place when this occurs. The only thing that is keeping this possibility from being a reality is the fact that he has spent the last year telling us just what kind of bad behaviour this whore has been displaying where he's concerned. I won't speak for our friends, but given the information that we all possess, I don't exactly think she will be all that well received. Especially considering the whore is still with the other guy too and lied to both men about the other one. But he thinks she's "the one". So the possibility exists. Idiot.

So, as long as Niagara Falls, As long as Gibraltar stands or until Hell freezes over. I just don't see us not being in each other's lives. But I don't know how to stop loving him enough to just be his friend. How does one put all this "stuff" aside? All the love, the pain, the hurt, the disrespect, the bad treatment, the good treatment? How does one just wipe the slate clean and start again?

I am still struggling with whether or not I want to love this misfit back into the functional world. ( credit to Crowbard for that expression). I am tough enough but am I willing to give that much of my soul up for another person who claims they only want part of it?

The ready an available answer is no. But there are other variables that I am still working through at this time.

Your patience as I work through this is very much appreciated. Your wisdom and caring is appreciated more!

The reprieve is over

I got the phone call.

I truly thought he would never call again. The singular proof of how unimportant I need to be made to feel by him in order to fall out of love. Right?

I don't get it really.

The psychologist in me takes over, steps back, and looks at the behaviour.

He doesn't believe he deserves to be loved.

Because of this:

1. He gets involved in relationships that hurt him and validate his feeling that he doesn't deserve to be loved
2. He treats anyone who has the audacity to see past this and love him despite it like crap.
3. So that they won't love him anymore
4. Thus validating his belief that he isn't worthy of being loved.

neat isn't it? Nice circle.

So.

With this knowledge, I listened to the message carefully.

here it is:

"Hey Contessa it's best friend. Want to let you know that brother had his surgery put in, he's in a lot of pain but he's Ok and he's coming home tomorrow. I'm staying at his place so if you want to call, call my cell. I'll talk to you later. Bye"

There are a number of things about this message that are strange.

1. His use of my first name.
2. Identifying himself by name
3. Allowing access while at his brothers
4. Not calling my cell, but my home.

And these were the first things that came to my mind when I heard the message, I had to go back and listen to the details on the brother again a second time.

I hate this. I would give my kidney up to back in time and do the last 8 years over again. More to the point, the last 3 months.

I refuse to predict the future. There is a lot of push to say this person is toxic and shouldn't be in my life and a part of me agrees with that. In fact depending on the day, that part of me is larger or smaller. Then there is the push that says but you have such a history here, and you two love each other regardless of the relationship status - how can you give that up?

Well here's the thing. I NEVER EVER gave up the person I love before. For any reason. If it was not going well, I was going to do the work required to bring it back.

But I chose to give him up and every day, I mean every SINGLE day, I regret it, but I don't. I miss him so very painfully much, but I'm at peace because I am not thrown to the peaks and the valleys.

I don't know if we can be friends. Because I don't know if I can trust him to treat me right. He's never done it consistently enough before, so how do I know that it wll happen this time.

There are so many reasons to NOT do this. But honestly, the one reason I have TO do it is powerful enough to override the others.

I am just not sure. Not yet. I'm still working through what is best for me. Not him. Me. Not my friends. Me.

I'm taking the day off

Tomorrow is the 4th of July.

I am going to my mom's and I am going to lay in the sun and dance to the music and eat the good food that will be there and think about nothing.

I will go to the pool party out east this weekend and do the same.

I will lay on the couch and lick my wounds in between.

Though I don't want to for much longer. THe silence that was deafening on Saturday and Sunday now is peaceful.

I feel sorry for him in a way. He lost the best thing that ever happened to him and she isn't coming back. I am not coming back.

Not unless A LOT changes. And since most men don't want to do that kind of work on themselves and he likes to play victim, I don't see it happening.

So I can say with safety, I am not going back.

Connection??? Yeah it's there. And every day I will work on severing it. Until I no longer care.

I can tell you that I never recovered so quickly. Really. this is odd. My friends who know me well, know this for sure. I once laid in my house, in slovenly clothes, barely cleaned, didn't take calls for A YEAR. AN ENTIRE YEAR.

So less than a week? Totally not normal.

Perhaps the spell is broken.

I'M OK if I keep busy. I am working at top performance right now much to leaders dismay. and I just made a purchase at Mary Kay of new makeup, cleansers etc.

I feel OK. I really do. I am going shopping tonight to pick up some food and noshes for my mom.

I already picked out my outfit too....

And now comes the anger

I got some really excellent advice today.

It does go against the grain though, and it plays into my mindset of "no game playing".

But I think it's the best choice and I was leaning that way in the first place.

Just walk away. No malice aforethought, no warning.

Just walk away.

If he calls, do not pick up and do not return the call.

If we end up at the same place, politely excuse myself and exit.

He thinks he's the man who can learn from his mistakes. He's said that. In fact what he does IS learn but he transfers the blame to others.

So, if he's going to learn from his mistakes, he is going to have to learn to respect me. And he either will or he won't. But it can't start with my choosing to be around. We've done this, it's proven to not work. So why do it again?

The definition of insanity is to repeat the same behaviours and expect different results.

The fact that I moved through much of the pain already in 5 days really makes me wonder. I'm angry and bit sarcastic and still prone to calling the other woman a whore ( thanks again Post-doc - it really is liberating). The major part seems to be over.

I think the reason it's more rational for me right now is because I am no longer in the peaks and valleys. I am in the valley with the middle as the peak. It's a smaller curve. Less stressful.

Oh I know you are all laughing at the rational comment. Go ahead.... laugh all you want. If it were any of you, I would probably have some eye rolling and a giggle or two. At the least.

But given the magnitude of what's happened here, I think that this thinking is more to the line of rational.

Except for the "whore" part.

That just makes me feel better.

Yeah I am a spiteful bitch on occasion - and I deserve to be.

the tears have stopped for now

The occasional moderately controlled tears may flow at situational things like TV, movies etc. but for the time being they have stopped.

I do believe I am numb now. I feel like I am fine, but that a huge hole is in my chest area where my heart used to be.

My heart is missing a piece. A big one. But if that piece can't be what I deserve, do I need that piece back?

Rhetorical of course. I can live the rest of my live with this hole if I have to. But I don't know that I want to.

But I am prepared to be alone. I am probably the best in my field. At the age that I am, it is statistcally proven that I have a better chance of being killed by a terrorist than getting married. And marriage isn't even the most important thing to me. The important thing is companionship or partnership with a man.

The fact is, the person that I am supposed to be with, doesn't want me because I am too good for him. He won't love me the way I deserve because he doesn't believe he is worthy of my love.

What kind of crap is that? He chases women who treat him badly so that he can validate the fact that he doesn't deserve to be loved. So when a woman like me has the AUDACITY to fall in love with him, he treats her badly to prove that he isn't worth it.

In all the years of socialogical and psychological background that I have, I am always surprised to find people in my life like this.

And no. Right this minute a phone call or visit from him won't change this fact or the way I feel. I am grieving him as if he is dead. I have to. Because I am cutting off as many ties as I have to in order to make sure that our lives don't intersect any further.

What I am doing to heal that hole? Well, let's face facts. That hole, the big one where my heart used to be? It won't heal. It will most definately scar. But it won't heal. It's too big. It's too complex.

I can actually understand that expression "pining away" or "dying of a broken heart". I never did before this. I never could understand giving up the will to live because of another person. Please don't get me wrong - I'm not there - I just understand it so much better now.

I know most of you think I have flipped, probably since yesterdays post. But I want to assure you that no, I am not crazy. I am just putting pieces together from the last 7 years of my life to see a picture I never saw before. it's bringing a lot of situations into a very specific relief for me.

I won't predict the end of this. Because if the "connection" we share is still this strong after all is said and done, there won'd be much I can do about it. If we are supposed to be together, we are going to end up like magnet and steal. So I won't say forever and I won't say permanent. But I will say that as of now, four days after the last broken promise, I am done. I mourn the loss of my best friend in this. But I don't mourn the loss of being treated as second best if it all.

Being a musician, I tend to find music that speaks to me during specific points in my life and then I go back to it when I need it.

I have an entire playlist right now that deals with this. It includes "midnight train to Georgia", "Rosanna", "Coconut", "Breaking up is hard to do", "I'll be over you".

I'll be over you is the one that I keep hearing in my head though from the beginning. This song was recorded by Toto so many years ago, I think I was in HS. Here's part of it:

"As soon as my heart stops breaking
Anticipating
As soon as forever is through
I'll be over you. "

I believe in these words because of that big hole. The words should be written like this:

"As soon as my heart stops breaking, anticipating, as soon as this hole heals up, I'll be over you."

Except that those words don't rhyme. And it wouldn't have a chance in hell of being a hit.

I'm still working. I'm still on the couch but I am not sleeping so great at night. I am waking up with acid reflux and my skin itches hideously.

And worse, I'm alone in this really. With a few exceptions, I haven't been allowed to tell anyone that we were together in the first place, so this decision is really going to make a few heads turn. "Our" Friends won't understand because I can't explain it.

Life is strange. I just want to be normal.

Now for a news flash

I have a little bit of the "Extra sensory" gifts.

Whew.

The secret is out.

Since I chose to ignore them after a very scary bus trip involving a ouji board in High School, they are truly undeveloped. ( Bus number 2 of the 4 buses on a trip to tanglewood arts festival was predicted to crash and it did. Scary we knew enough in time to switch buses....)

I can do things like be my own personal Caller ID ( I always know who the "private caller" is, or predicting email or postal arrivals of specific items or when the phone is going to ring, or worse yet pick it up before it does. But nothing major.

I was able to stack the deck of cards fairly regularly without a lot of effort in college. I choose not to gamble, but win when I do. Traditional gambling that is.

I tend towards herbal work for health, but don't dabble in weird stuff. No burning of incense or anything like that. I had a friend who was a Wicca, but we aren't friends anymore, though we are friendly. She told me on more than one occasion that my interests could lead me down this path.

I believe in Goddesses and think that I am one..... but I like to think that's more beauty and pampering related. I read up on this stuff disguised as normal books. I didn't even nrealize that was what I was doing till someone pointed it out to me.

The most extreme things to me are tarot cards ( I throw them often actually) and psychics. I have refused to have a full session with one since my dad died. Given the state of affairs right now I probably need to go again.

Given this knowledge, I was driving to the Grocery store, listening to my ipod. I loaded a bunch of songs that wouldn't depress me overly much, but mean things to me, on from Itunes. After driving past the whore's street and yelling WHORE at the street where the other woman lives ( Post-Doc should be SO proud of me) to obviously only me since I was alone in the car, the tune Roseanna by Toto came on.

I love this song. I don't care who else hates it - tough.

But it was a very dear friends favorite tune for a lot of years. He passed away four years ago. Right after my dad. He was my age and he died of esophagial Cancer. He told only his family and his best friend.

Mark was a unique and special person. Oh he had his asshole moments to be sure, but we loved him and he loved us.

Mark was a drummer. An AMAZING one. He was never happier than behind his set, with his kit laid out and a good vibe going. He would play to almost anything but loved Rush, Toto, anything along those lines.

We were all friends for a zillion years. Lena, Andy, Mark, JP and myself.

I should tell you that I did see a psyhic at a party for 10 minutes. I don't think this counts. But in that 10 minute meeting I was looking for my dad. No one else. Evidently there was a crowd on the other side waiting on me. Mark was amongst them. I put him off because I wanted my dad. That was 2 years ago and he's been really patient.

So here's the story.

When the man I love and I were doing this dance 5 years ago, Mark called me up one day and asked me to meet him for coffee. We hooked up at a place in the town between us and had coffee and salads. We talked about a barter system for teaching music lessons.

Then a week later, he called and asked me for money. A sum that was larger than I could accommodate. He wanted to meet me at the bar where my man was playing for a drink and the exchange.

I told him that I didn't have it, but we could still have the drink if he wanted to meet me there.

He said He underestood and that it was OK as he wasn't drinking.

It didn't register at the time.

At all.

He was already ridden with cancer. I know this now.

Today in the car, as I was driving, a strange peaceful feeling washed over me. I had the feeling he was sitting with me. IN a strange way, he was conveying to me, that yes that's the reason he wanted the money, but he didn't want me to give it out of guilt. He doesn't fault me for not giving the money either.

I don't feel guilty - I truly didn't have it. But I feel strange. I don't always believe in this stuff. I look down my nose at it a lot. It's scary - let's face it. But the fact is, I think it's out there. I believe in it enough to know that I have a little bit of it, and so do a LOT of people. Most don't even know it.

Scoff if you will. But this all ties in to what's happening to me today.

You see. My man and Mark are very similar in personality. It never occurred to me before until Mark came to me today. In a flash, I realized that Mark was telling me things that I never knew. I don't know if I always knew these things or if they are only coming to light now given the situation that I am in. I simply do not know.

But I do know that Mark was the younger version of this man that I love whom I am in a crisis situation with now.

Mark himself had no future, or didn't to his way of thinking. Neither does my man. Or so he believes.

Mark only knew how to do the one thing that he loved: his music. Same with my man.

He was overseas during Desert Storm. My man was in the army 30 years ago.

I've known Mark since I was three years old. I met my man when I was three years old.

Mark lost his mom to breast cancer and his sister to leukiemia, my man is losing his brother to ALS.

Both of them came to me when the stakes were high and needed something.

I was never in love with Mark. There was an attraction that was on again off again but never acted upon. Usually one of us was in some kind of other situation. So it was just friends until death for us. And that actually happened as it turned out.

So what did I learn from this? That I have really crappy taste in men? I don't think so. Both are tragic tormented souls. And for that I am sorry for them. But Mark never treated me badly as a friend or anything else. not ever. Except for not telling me he was sick. And I understand that. I really do.

My man did treat me badly. In any capacity that I was and am in with him. Of course, if Mark had lived to be fifty, he might have treated me badly too.... winky winky.... but I doubt it.

There's some kind of lesson here that pertains to me. I haven't investigated it out yet. I need to focus on it and meditate on it a bit and maybe find a trusted psychic and investigate it out there.

The fact is that these some other connection I think. It doesn't alter what is happening currently and certainly DOES NOT justify it any way. It won't change the path that I decided to be on at all. I am not seeing him. Not now. I won't dictate forever, but it may come to that. And I am mentally prepared for it, if we come to that. The practical day to day will be tough, but I will cross that bridge when I come to it. In the meantime I want to narrow down this connection because I want to be prepared to learn from it.

There are many of you that will think I am a little freaky for this post. Most of my closest friends don't know these things about me. I do NOT broadcast them and I do NOT do anything about with them.

well - except stack the kitty in euchre and pinnochle.... Didn't you ever wonder how all the 9's an 10's got there??? or my favorite - queens around? Or making sure that Bernie and I always had both bowers when the chips were down?

Come on..... I'm not the good of a dealer....

This town ain't big enough for the both of us

It's amazing what the mind can block and forget when the pain is too much,


This obviously isn't our first go around in this situation.


There are several things that make it different though this time.


One is, we live 2 miles apart. Before we livedd 25 miles apart.


Little bit easier, that 25 miles. Not a lot of chances that we would arrive on one another's doorsteps, or show up in the middle of the night, or run into each other in a store.


A LOT more chance of it now. AND he's a bit of a local celebrity. And more people know me than I actually know here in town. Because of my dad.


So not only did we not have the conversation that needs having, he didn't call. Which is starting to make my decision making so MUCH easier.


It just proves what I have been saying. I am NOT as important to him and holding on to me is only to deal with his guilt. He doesn't need me. He has plenty and I mean plenty of other friends. I truly can't imagine what I actually bring to the table that means so much to him that he won't let me go. I can't imagine what about me he can't get from, say, the other woman ( Post-doc feel free to interject with your special word here....). So why does he need me?


I say it's guilt. And I Don't even think it's guilt about me personally either, though I play the biggest part of it currently.


No, I think the thing of it is, never seeing him again, in any capacity, might be the only option. I just don't think I am going to mention it. I am just going to act on it. No more discussion, just do it. Like Nike.


If I find myself in the awkward position of being in the same place, I will just make my excuses and get out of there as quickly as possible.


If, at some point, he finally figures out what it is he misses, he will have to do some major tap dancing to get me to believe it. AND I will be citing yesterday and today's blog posts as to why. When he should be worrying about the status of our relationship, he was too busy worrying about other things, conveniently putting me to the bottom of the list if I was still on it at all.


The fact is, I am not important to him. I can't imagine that there is someone out there that will think that I am important someday and seriously, at my age, I have to make my peace with that.


I have cut my schedule back to the necessities now. The rest of the time I spend on the couch or on the bed.

Sleep is the only antidote I have right now.

As Harry said in "When Harry Met Sally", "That's the nice thing about depression, you get your rest".

Sad Eyes, turn the other way....

Old song - for those of you old enough to remember it.

I danced with the man I love to this song back in April. I have a video of it.

It's one I no longer watch.

In writing, this kind of thing is known as foreshadowing.

Who knew that this song would turn out to be so true?

heartbreak is horrible. Being the one who initiated it? Turns out that the only good thing about that is you can't get blind sided.

I am going to do my best to write through this. The frequency may go down as I can't promise my stamina is going to be there.

But writing through other things, seemingly less painful than this, seemed to hold me in good stead. Seeing the bravery of Post-Doc and Title Troubles and Maplemama in their writing has really shown me that I can do this and maybe it Will be helpful.

You will be treated to a very "uncontessa-like" set of behaviours. To be sure. They range from anger, to tears, to happiness, to peace, to all kinds of things.

For now just know that I am grappling one singular question:

How do I trust a man who still wants me in his life today, but who had requested 5 years ago that we remain friends, best friends, and then proceeded to treat me badly for five years in the hopes that I wouldn't be in love with him anymore? I have no frame of reference for how he should treat me as a friend because I have never exprienced it. How do I do that? How do I address that?

Trust me, its rhetorical for you folks. It will be a reality for him.

I have not yet posed this question to him. I will be doing that tomorrow. Once we debate that for 2 or 3 hours ( that's the minimum ANY questions between us takes) I will be in a better position to decide if he is allowed to continue on in my life.

He means well. He does. But he is not doing this for me. Do not be fooled. He is doing this to assuage his own guilt and grief at our situation.

Perhaps I am being overly dramatic at this juncture, but I do not understand why he needs me in his life. Surely he can find another person who will love him enough for him to treat badly, no?

( see ??? if you wait patiently, there's the anger masked as sarcasm - just wait - there is much more of that to come!)

I am now at the point of wearing my bed and walking around wrapped in a blanket. I had Cold stone ice cream for dinner, not even all of it - how sad. I couldn't bring myself to eat more. I don't think I have ever gone through that level of heart break where I COULDN'T eat.... huh.

I am taking something to sleep at night for now, I sleep whenever I can as a matter of fact. I took a nap this afternoon. I could sleep now without thinking about it. I am trying to maintain my regular schedule as much as possible. I fake a lot of happiness with the kids whenever I can and try to hold the tears back to the car ( when it's not in motion, thank you) or the house. But once they start, do not be fooled, they are not easily turned off.

Same with the anger. Once I get rolling, get out of the way. It goes from sarcasm, to biting then I just lash out altogether.

I am writing through this in part too, because I am feeling very much alone. Please remember that "our" friends locally are not involved at all and can't know anything. So I am restricted who I can speak to. My priest is on vacation. So I am doing all of this in my private blog and extracting the parts that do not overly reveal for this one.

I haven't been through something like this in so long, even I don't remember how badly this hurts. It's a small wonder why I refuse to fall in love again. This is the part that sucks.

You know what's funny, when I am really down and out I grasp for the tarot cards, the psychics, the mystics. Hell I even thought about Dionne Warwick's Psychic Friends network for a brief second. And while I am always afraid of the hacks and very good at not giving leading information out, I am always surprised when they are so accurate.

Part of me really needs to know. And Part of me is scared as hell to know.

So I threw the numbers out. I closed the websites.

Back to the grey world.

For now.

A life lived in color is now Black and White

How to explain this title.



For it bears explanation, to be sure.



In the past decade of my life, I have had the luxory and security of living in technicolor. In a grand fashion.



I was fortunate to have the most wonderful friends in the world. I am still fortunate in that.



But I have recently started discussions to end one of these friendships ( with benefits) that will cause my technicolor world to go black and white - at least for awhile.



The only way to describe how I feel with this person in my life is technicolor. When we are together, All the colors of the rainbow are represented along with some that most can't see. When we are apart, my world is black and white.



So I am watching the color fade to grey. He isn't letting me go so quickly so I may end up in grey for awhile till I make up my mind. Honestly, I walked into this cutting him off permanently. But them the idea of losing my best friend tore a bigger piece of my soul than I thought it would. So I shelved the concept of forever temporarily. I can't decide that based solely on emotion.



For now, we are talking on the phone. Short conversations, but daily.



I am afraid. Of many things. Mostly I am afraid that if I let him go, I won't see the colors again. and if I don't let him go, things won 't change the way they need to. Oh and I should mention the perversity of my life where I finally let him go and I move on.... that's when he will have gotten his act together. So you can see I have a lot of things on my mind.



You see, we have a connection. That's the stupid word for it. We are bonded and linked in terms of time and space, timeless, centuries and all those crazy things. Those were his words. And the fact is, that translated into one kind of love for me and another for him. But we haven't met in the middle yet. I told him that he needed to leave me be so I could get over him as I have never had the opportunity to completely do that in 7 years. And in that 7 years, 4 of which I deluded myself into thinking that we were just best friends, I never got the full bearing of friendship because there was this thing between us. It is strong and sometimes bigger than everything around us AND we aren't the only ones seeing it. That didn't phase me, I was content to move on and have him as my best friend. But it did phase him. I just didn't realize how much.



It caused him to treat me erratically. Sometimes I got the full Best Friend treatment, sometimes I got treated as insignificantly as a fly. When those times happened I just stopped contacting him. When her removed his head from his ass, he would come around and we would be best friends again.



So last night, as I was really trying hard to break this off, it came to my attention exactly HOW LONG this has been going on. It's not acceptable and at the end of the day, I am not entirely convinced he will get over his own issues to be able to treat me the way I deserve.



I also have the issue of other women for him and other men for me. He will assuredly move on first. He can't NOT. I can't witness it and I made that clear. He wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of me with another man either. This cycle repeats stupidly for 7 years too.



I watched and listened as he shared things with me that we've never talked about before. I am paying for some his past, I get that and so does he. This whole situation has less to do with me and everything to do with him. He always said I didn't love myself. He meant him. He doesn't love himself. And that plays a major part in this. That and pride. He feels he has no future and won't get involved with someone who already does ( me) because he doesn't want to use me to gain security.



A little old fashioned I think, but I do think he does need to iron out his future. He's older than I am and he needs to stear his own course. But first he has to find his own course. I may or may not be part of that in one of many capacities. That will remain to be seen at this point.



I can't predict the future, but I can predict the present. For right now, I live in grey while I decide whether the color is worth the price or Black and White is a better risk while I search for someone else that brings color into my life. Black and white is winning out right now.



I have not spent an enormous amount of time talking this through with anyone, I have really kept my own counsel here with one outside opinion weighing in.



This scene is still being written.

Act 1 Scene 5 - The Contessa looks for signs everywhere

I have been writing my Letters to God lately, I have noticed that one of the things I pray for is a sign that I am making the right decisions or signs to help guide me on the paths that I am on.

So I was driving home from a board meeting, where the stupidity and crap that has been reigning for the past two months, finally was put to a timely end. A load off my mind. I was thinking about another problem and came up with a solution. It wasn't a great one and while I felt better for HAVING a solution, it may not have been the best one. So in driving home, I asked for a sign as t whether this was a good solution or not.

Then CRASH.

I merged into another vehicle. A large black SUV ish vehicle.

Entirely my fault. I thought I checked my blindspot carefully before merging, but I was distracted with the solution that I had just found.

We were heading for a traffic light and I DO believe that the SUV sped up to close the gap so I couldn't merge. Be that as it may, I still hit them. But we were slowed down for the light which was red, so I didn't hit that hard.

Still in the essence of doing the right thing... I started up to move to another lane so we could pull over and exchange information.

GAH!!!!! Foiled!!!!!!

They cut me off, cut over two lanes, sped up and got on the Interstate.

Are you kidding me???

Now I am thinking,oh boy, I'll bet there is something illegal going on with them. Then I worry that something happened to them and Pray that they are not hurt.

Then it occurs to me that this is the REALLY obvious sign I asked for. The solution to one of my problems that I came up with, you know, the one that distracted me in the first place????Not a good OR fair one. Not yet at any rate.

This is the kind of thing that happens to women in my family. My mom has had car accidents and tickets the few times that she has had major issues on her mind.

And So it gets passed down.

But it was a big sign. And I feel oddly relieved. I didn't get hurt, My car doesn't have a scratch on it ( explain this to me please!!!) and I am not following through with my solution, but have tabled it temporarily in search of a better solution OR a positive change. I just pray now that those people are not hurt.

There are signs everywhere - you just have to look.

Act 1 Scene 4 - Finders Keepers

OK now in the last couple of "The Plan" posts, I have casually mentioned some DMV issues under finance.

The fact is, 7 years later, I received a notice giving me 90 days to respond to a lapse of insurance in February of 1999.

Can I just mention that I haven't been with THAT insurance company in probably 5 years? Minimum?

And because the notification JUST came in - those records got shredded ( 7 years right???) and I am pretty religious about that. IN fact I had JUST done it which really pissed me off.

I went to the court that issued it and they gave me an extension - even though I tried to plead that they shouldn't even be asking for this now. 7 years later. But since they are going to insist and being a County court, they can, I awill do my diligence and try and get proof.

Having very little luck with my former insurance company ( I happen to work in the MAJOR building in NYC when I am there), I opted to go to the agent I have now and ask for some guidance.

Never made it to her office for the appt as it's tomorrow.

Do you want to know why? I reached into my night stand drawer today to take my required blood pressure and grabbed a book that was sitting on top. It's an interesting book and I hadn't remembered it was in there. I opened it and pulled out a piece of paper.

It was the insurance cards from said company. Covering me during that time.

Prayers are answered sometimes. This one weighed on my mind. I really wasn't sure how I was going to get the paperwork from so long ago. Now I just have to bring it down to the Court and get my clearance slip, take it to the DMV and have it registered so they don't suspend my license.

I cannot tell you what I sigh of relief this brings me.

Seriously.

Act 1 Scene 3 - The Goodbye Party

Today was our Goodbye party for Cynthia. She has been our choir director for two years and is moving up north having retired.

So I get myself together, I am dressed appropriately and I headed to the store to pick up some snacks for the crew and head to my stepmoms house.

I get there to realize that, not only am I the first one here, but I am also the ONLY one here.

Isn't it strange that a party at someone's house starts at 4 and yet not even the hostess is home?

HMMMM.

so I pull over to the side and start trying to think. And I mean trying. I couldn't think where it would be and who would still be home that knew.

Crap.

So I suddenly recall that the party seemed to me to be hosted in Massapequa. OK good. That narrows it down to 2 houses. I rolled the dice and called Carol. Thank goodness she was home, they were just getting ready to leave.

Leave? Well it's not at their house!

OK that narrows it down to 1. So now I know where I am going.

I start driving again and get there in a few minutes. The party is lovely. The weather is like fall...it's in the mid 60's and there is a breeze. The entire choir except for 2 is there, my priest is there and we are having a lovely time.


I'm going to miss her, Truly I will. For those of you that remember the cute musician guy from a few months ago, this is his foster mom. Now He's not going anywhere, but I will see a lot less of him, not that I saw that much to start with. Funny how over time, I realized how little we had in common. It's still his loss!!!! ;-)

It's nice for she and her husband though. They have this lovely chance to spend some quality time together in a sleepy New England Town. I almost envy her.

On the way home, I am thinking, rather resentfully, that my night last night was intruded upon by someone else. Still driving, I talk this through with God. and myself. The reality is, whether I got that call or not, I was not planning to go. So being mad that someone else MAY have been there that I didn't want to see, was in fact, Stupid.

I actually felt better.

Because you see, I finally found the perfect birthday present and I don't want to be in a pissy mood when I present it. It's so lucky that circumstances presented themselves as they have recently. We watched the Concert for George Harrison recently. For those of you who haven't seen it, see it. It's the memorial concert done a year to the day after he died.

I was poking around ebay - you all know how I love that, and I found a signed photo of George with a COA. I have the perfect frame already. This is going to be really special. It's my best friends FAVORITE of all the Beatles. I can't wait for it get here, it's being shipped insured with a moneyback guarantee.

I have been searching for 6 months for something this special.

I feel good. I feel really good. I love giving the perfect gift. It's really amazing.

But I will miss Cindy.

Act 1 Scene 2 - Letters to God

In this scene we find the Contessa sitting at her desk, a lovely antique secretaire, at her laptop, with her morning coffee, furiously pecking at the keys despite her long manicured fingernails.



Musing to self:


I have been finding prayer and meditation difficult lately. I've been getting distracted in the midst of it.


So I started writing letters to God in my personal journal. I find that when I do this in the morning, or as the mood strikes me, I get out the feelings I need to. I tend to write about my personal needs lately but that's OK.


Once I sit down at my desk, with my water, coffee, juice whatever, I feel better able to go about my day after having written the letter. Two days in, with some trials and tribulations out there, things are being handled better for me and by me. I feel more confident in my decisions and the signs that I need to help me make the decisions are being seen but I am still challenged in how to read them.


In writing letters to God, there is less chance that I will forget something that's important. there is a better chance for some better self discovery and I can be as honest as I need to and dnot worry about hurting anyone or having people read these letters and think "That Contessa is loco loco loco!" or "That Contessa doesn't understand at ALL".

I have a tendancy to waffle on decisions that I need to make because I have been raised to think things through, ponder all sides and make sure that I am fully educated on the facts so that I make the best decision for me. So I tend to wait while the jury is out.


But in the meantime, I can write my opinions and feelings down in my personal letters to God as well as in this blog.




Cut to phone ringing - cell phone.


The contessa answers the phone. She is surprised at the caller and is quiet as she listens.


She is a little bit short in the discussionary points and finally asks the caller to please call her home phone as the reception is difficult.


She knows what the caller is going to say, though they have been hemming and hawing on the phone....


The phone rings on her desk. She answers it and says:


"That's much better. Now what is it you are trying to tell me?"
" You may not want to come down to Merrick tonight" the caller says.
"Oh???? I wasn't planning to. You need a break from my presence there" She replies
"No - no I don't. I just wanted you to know that there might be someone there that you won't want to see and I am just doing the right thing and making you aware" The caller says.
" Well I appreciate that. However maybe I need a break from going down there. " She replies.


The call continues on a more sociable level after that but there is some slight tension in the air. Some plans are made and discussed and changed. Whether or not they pan out is to remain seen...


Once she hangs up, she returns to work. She has things to do while it's still quiet at the office.


About one hour later:


The contessa can be seen lying face down in the middle of her bed. Just laying there. Doing absolutely nothing.



She picks up her head and stares at the orange cat lying on the pillow. She reaches for her book and reads for a little while.


She gets up, looks at the time and wanders back to the living room, followed by golden eyed, orange cat.

She calls her best girl friend. Every leading lady has one, and this one is hers. She listens as her dear friend recounts her troubles and frustrations. Her friend has a lot on her plate as well. They discuss things through,
The contessa speaks to her friends' little girls, that always picks her spirits up. Then her friend comes back on line and The contessa shares part of her letter to God and the phone call she received. They discuss it at length and The Contessa confirms that friend was right in the first place and her friend offers the comment that the sign the Contessa thought she got last night, may not have been interpreted right or the right sign or even a sign altogether.


The contessa agree's. They hang up.


The Contessa goes back to work. She wraps up what she needs to for the day and heads out to teach. Knowing that she is not going to Merrick that night, she doesn't need to re-shower and dress up, so she doesn't. A less than dressy outfit would almost ENSURE that a change of heart wouldn't happen. The Contessa is not a stupid woman.


We end our scene with the Contessa, back at the antique secretaire with a glass of water, finishing this Blog post. She has since written another letter to God as well as completed this Blogpost. She is feeling relaxed. She has since taught three lessons and practiced singing an aria from Rossini's Barber of Seville in Italian. She attempted to watch the DVDs of two performances in the last two years but couldn't stand her stage presence and gave up....

The letters to God are a wonderful tool and while they don't replace prayer, it helps get the important points on the table so that they can be prioritized when prayer time comes.


"Prayers are always answered. Even if it's not the way you anticipated."


End Scene.


And .....................


Cut.