And with no reply, I started telling myself she’d made her choice. Maybe someone else came along. Perhaps she outgrew me.
Eventually, I did what people do when life doesn’t provide closure.
I moved forward.
I met Heather. She was different from Sue in every way. She was practical, solid, and someone who didn’t romanticize life.
And honestly, I needed that. We dated for a few years. Then married.
We built a quiet life together — two kids, a dog, a mortgage, PTA meetings, camping trips, the whole script.
It wasn’t a bad life, just a different one.
Sadly, at age 42, Heather and I divorced. It wasn’t because of cheating or chaos. We were just two people who realized that, somewhere along the way, we’d become more like housemates than lovers.
Heather and I split everything down the middle and parted with a hug in the lawyer’s office.
Our kids, Jonah and Claire, were old enough to understand.
And thankfully, they turned out okay.
