Elgan speaks
...and her words thunder across the land

More concerts, more divorces, and more oobleck.

Sunday, Apr. 15, 2007
10:55 p.m.
Talk about a marathon weekend of student recitals. I attended three today, for a total of six actual performances. At 3 p.m. there was an honours graduation guitar recital, followed at 4:30 by a shared recital of another classical guitarist and a jazz guitarist. This evening I sat through three flutists, two of whom were performing obligatory third-year recitals. One of them was phenomenal. I mean, he totally blew everyone away. Completely. I’m still somewhat stunned.

The weather has not improved. The rain of earlier today turned into oobleck at around 6:30 and everything is now covered with a layer of very wet snow. I am not impressed.

After the second guitar recital, Hubby and I ended up at the grocery store as we were out of milk (and beer, it turns out, but that’s another story) and as we came in we saw a woman we know on the pay phone at the entrance. We waved hello, and then continued on in to buy our various staples.

She has children close in age to Buddy Boy, her son was in his class in elementary school and they all took karate together. My son has continued with the martial art, her two kids dropped out a while ago. Her husband is a very handsome doctor, and they live in this absolutely huge house on a vast terrain in town, and since I don’t see her on a regular basis, I have no idea what goes on in her life.

Later I ran into her in the produce aisle. She commented that it was very nice to see a married couple such as us doing things together. I told her that this summer we were celebrating our 25th anniversary and she congratulated me, asking me what was the secret to our long-lasting marriage. There’s no secret, really. It has to do with having a made a commitment and then honouring it, even when you don’t particularly feel like it.

She then told me that she and her husband split up a year and-a-half ago, that he got himself a mistress and moved out, and she and the kids are living in that enormous house by themselves. I was shocked. She was practically in tears telling me this. I expressed my sympathy, but what else can I say? She obviously still loves him. I don’t know why some marriages work out and some don’t. Maybe he was feeling his age and he needed to feel young again by taking up with a new woman. It seems rather unfair. Middleaged men can do that, older women don’t have a chance in hell of attracting a younger man.

I suppose I should be grateful for what I’ve got. I guess I am.

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