Thursday, September 17, 2009

things you wish you'd never heard

there are things that you just wish you'd NEVER heard.... a gazillion years ago, bill cosby had a classic thing you don't want to hear: your surgeon saying "scalpel". "retractor". "suction". "oops".

or, the motorcycle cop who's swaggering up to your window... you don't want to hear him say "I was -gonna- just give you a warning..."

or, your 15 year old daughter saying "um, mom? dad? we need to talk".

or, the woman that you love with all your heart, that you've been trying to get with for over six long, painful years, to say "it's not gonna happen for another year".

that's not a good thing.

i was a royal horse's ass to her today. oh, and red buttons.

well then. all you faithful readers, of which there are none, are probably just dying for an update.

if you've been following along, you know that today was the first time she was able to see me in 10 months. we'd both had our own visions of how today might go, but hers were based on reality, her pains, and knowing in advance how she wanted it to go. my visions were, as usual, pretty much based in fantasy land - and had it not been for those dang monkeys flying outta my butt, it mighta come true.

uh, no.

i had -every- intention of making the best of today, i really did. i wanted to show her how much i appreciated her stretching her limits and agreeing to let me come this week. (and given the level of reluctance and trepidation she had, how could she possibly have -ever- thought she'd see me in ohio this last march? or memorial day? or the 4th? she was nearly catatonic with fear at my very presence. good g-d, being within 500 miles of me in march might have just killed her.

so, on to the trip report. i like to be concise in my descriptions; which, even though she calls me the "king of the prefaces", i do try to make as accurate and descriptive as possible. so, let's just get to the executive summary, shall we?

i was a complete and total ass today. i swear, it was like Invasion of the Body Snatchers in reverse. she wanted to meet at lunch, so we met in a parking lot and parked facing each other and talked on the phone. she couldn't see me because of reflection on the windshield although I could kinda see her. she was perfectly okay with not being able to see me.

at her office, we talked through her window because she couldn't let me in the door. only when it started raining did she allow me inside. and she stood behind a half-wall about 20' away. here's the feel-good part: when i tried to get within 10 feet of her (because, g-d did i want to kiss her) she PANICKED. not panicked, but PANICKED. her eyes got huge, she started backing away, her voice got high and shrill and very tense.

PANICKED. at just the thought of me being within 10 feet of her. PANICKED.

and i thought she'd be giving herself to her master. LOL! and so happy and overwhelmed to see me that she'd drop her defences, give herself to me, touch, hold, kiss and maybe even fuck me.

yeah, yeah, i know, but it really did seem plausible in -my- head. i think i hadn't really counted on the level (or presence, for that matter) of actual invoke-the-flight-response panic. well, at least i can make her feel something besides disgust, anger, hurt and hate.

panic. actual, real, visible panic. i don't think i've ever really seen panic like that before. i've seen fear and distrust and dislike and trepidation and all that... i've seen wild eyed fear in the eyes of almost-skydivers as they got to the door of the plane and then froze solid. i've seen "you've gotta be fucking kidding me" looks of disbelief.

but i have to say, i've never seen total physical panic before. had it not been my beloved showing such abject fear on her face, and not just fear, but fear of -me-, it would've been an experience worth analyzing, questioning her about it, getting her thoughts. but because it was so obvious what the source of her panic was (that'd be -me-) all sense of intellectual curiosity was overwhelmed by the realization that she was painfully, physically -fearful- of me being that close to her.

inspiring real, true emotions in others can be a very fulfilling experience. i'd like to think that i'm capable of making people feel liked, wanted, appreciated, enjoyed, welcome, etc. i have to admit, i'm not especially happy after seeing the abject fear that my mere physical presence can invoke.

her panic was just the highlight though. trust me when i tell you that i managed to make the entire visit an ordeal (uh, note to readers: an experience that's described as an "ordeal" is generally not considered a good thing) that she was forced to endure.

ah, how i like getting people to express their true emotions.

to be honest, i was a shit today. i tried, i did, i really tried. i went into this knowing that this was not for me, it was for her. and if i was going to make it a worthwhile risk for her to take (so she'd do it again, which seems unlikely at this point) then i'd have to really completely sublimate any wishes or hopes or ideas that i had for how the visit might turn out and take a backseat to hers.

i made a good start of it. i was SO happy all morning (despite getting up at 3am) just knowing that i was going to visit her. g-d i was flying all morning. there were a couple of periods where i felt myself getting ?resentful? that my needs and wants, hurts and pains were not important to this day and i more or less managed to get myself past those. after all, i'd known for months that this visit would not be for me. but i tried and was even successful. some.

but it all came out anyway.

i'm a logical type person. i process information in detail fashion, apply rules and previous experience to the interpretation of whatever facts i take in from the world and then approach them in a logical fashion. there's no problem, issue, dilemma that can't be solved if we look at it logically. and that's one of the most frustrating things in this period of trying to reconcile with my love. logic isn't applicable. and that's a major factor in my frustration.

a well reasoned, well thought out argument or presentation on the facts, alternatives and options of a problem (any problem, task, idea, etc) is an elegant thing and will -always- arrive at a reasonable solution of what to do (or do next). logic. if it hurts to bang your head on the wall, then don't bang your head on the wall. as a corollary, a favorite saying i have is the "definition of crazy - keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result". i've tried for years (unsuccessfully, obviously and usually to the detriment of our relationship) to try to logically lay out a description of our situation, the reasonable alternative courses of action and their likely results.

logic doesn't apply.

example: you've heard that if you push the red button, food gets delivered to the table. so, you're in a room and there's a table with no food and a red button. "Huh", you say. "I'll bet if I push the red button, food will appear; at least, that's what i've heard". so you proceed to push the red button. and push. and push. and several thousand pushes later, still no food. so, you ask the person next to you. and they say, "oh, that only works if you're the first in line and wear a red tee shirt". so logically, you should be able to come to two conclusions. first, you should be saying "i've pushed this friggin' red button 12,000 times and no food". you should also be saying "huh, that other person said it only works under certain conditions, which don't exist here.". now, what would you do? logically, you'd say, "huh, ok. maybe i'm doing this wrong; maybe my way won't work. g-d knows i've pushed the button enough times that -something- should've happened by now. i wonder if a) my plan is flawed somehow, b) it sure as fuck doesn't -seem- to be working and c) maybe i need to think about trying something different."

no. now this makes no sense to me. and, herein lies the source of much of my frustration. she has a predetermined path that she -KNOWS- is the one, the only, the right path from then to us. no negotiation, no compromise, no change. she knows herself and she knows that no other way will enable her to solve the problem. but holy fuck! we've been through numerous iterations of this process of pushing the red button and there's still no fucking food on the table!!! at -some- point doesn't it only make sense to try something different?

see? that's the problem with logic versus emotions. logic has to follow rules. emotion just -is-. it is just because i say it is. or because i think (KNOW) that that's how it's supposed to/gonna work. or just because i say it is and this is how i want it to happen.

but, whatever. it is what it is. and what it's not is open to suggestion, compromise or alternatives. that in itself is a conundrum because the only acceptable result for me is to have the fucking food show up on the table. i don't really give a fuck -what- makes the food appear, just that it does. if the red button doesn't work, let's try standing on our heads. if that doesn't work, let's try knocking on the lab door. if that doesn't work, let's try sticking a pinky up our nose and farting in show tunes. whatever. if the fucking red button doesn't work, do something different! you may -want- the red button to product the food. you may -need-, for pride or reputation or whatever, for pushing the red button to make food appear. you may desperately -want- pushing the red button to make food appear. but g-ddamn it! if pushing the fucking red button doesn't do it, DO SOMETHING ELSE.

so even though i know pushing the red button isn't producing the desired result, and even though she knows that pushing the red button isn't producing the desired result, she -wants- the pushing of the red button to be the thing that makes the food appear on the table.

so?

push. (no food)

push. (no food)

push. (still no food)

push. (no food)

push. push. push. push.

what happens when the red button is pushed to death and falls apart and theirs STILL no food on the table? will it -then- be time to try something different? or just install another red button?

since i'm a logical kind of guy, my answer is null and void out of the gate.

the red buttons are on order.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

whoa! reality check

you know, for someone who's such a pessimist, such a "glass half empty" kinda guy, I sure am awful optimistic when it comes to her...

since about labor day (well, after, coz she was gone for quite awhile around labor day), I've felt so good about my mindset, my mental perspective. and I wanted her to know and feel it and see that hey, see? I really am here and focused on us...

the beginning of september was an important milestone, although not an "actual" one. the beginning of september marked the month where she was gonna see me. no matter, the visit was to be a milestone, an important way point on our journey to us.

she was going to push to see me around her birthday, no matter what. and since we'd talked -often- about visits and what would be required to get us back to us, the start of visits denoted a very important kick off date. we'd talked for a long time about having visits, once we started again, about every 2 weeks, maybe every 3, depending on schedules. and she'd highly intimated that 3 visits would kinda be the magic number, possibly, after which we'd be -very, very- close to being together, if not already there.

so, doing the math, 4 visits from her birthday would (would have) put us right at the 2nd week in november. now mind you, that means the 2nd week of november as a very possible time that she'd be leaving bf/hubby to be with me. meaning we'd be starting our life together, mid-november.

that was a powerful, powerful beacon to me. and its proximity was starting to have a profound effect on my mindset. the nearness of her birthday and what i thought that meant to us was rapidly changing my perspective, for the better. us being together was becoming -reality-. the date of that was creeping closer and closer; everyday was bringing us closer to being together. instead of looking ahead and seeing an endless parade of who knows how many months, the future was starting to gel, to actually take form, fall into perspective. it was no longer an unknown number of months in the foggy future, but instead, it was turning into a date (or a range of likely dates) that was in the foreseeable and -near- future. a hundred days, give or take. that's ALL! just another hundred days or so... and not 100 days until we see each other, but 100 days until we're -TOGETHER-!!!!

WOW! what a perspective change! instead of every morning being just one more morning of one more day of not knowing when or if we'll ever be together, every morning became a marker of 1 day closer to being together! the days were still long, but they stopped dragging on interminably. the weekends still sucked, but every one that passed was one less before we were going to be together! the turning of the calendar began to be a good thing again, instead of a hated, despised event.

whoa! time for a reality check.

she already knows that she's not going to be able to see me this visit. nothing like being open and wanting to make something positive happen.

and when i asked her when she thought she might want the next visit she said "3-4 weeks, maybe".

what? wtf?

so, time to revamp the calendar. what i thought might be our -start- date instead may be about the time of our second visit. a visit during which she may actually want to be in the same room with me. so i'm thinking us starting fucking and her leaving hubby probably ain't gonna make the agenda for a november visit.

"days", as a discreet, finite unit of time are fading back into "days" as the foggy entrance to a dark, scary tunnel of unknown makeup, unknown length, unknown pitfalls. days aren't getting X'd off the calendar any more, they're back to being boulders of sand falling on top of me from this huge hourglass hanging over my head. days are no longer prized as just one of a hundred or so to be put behind us before reaching our future. days have resumed their shape as snowflakes in the blizzard, drops of water in the waterfall, falling sand/rocks in the hourglass of life. where before there was a set, finite number of them, an unknown number yes, but in the -countable- range, today each is again just one of a million coming down the pike.

a week ago, every day that passed was one less day until i could have her again. i suppose that technically, I could still look at each day that way, but there's a crucial difference: before, I knew that there were about 100 of them, give or take. i knew, concretely, that by the end of this year, we'd be together. now? no clue. there could be 100, 200, 500 or 3,000 days between now and "us". so yeah, every day that passes is one more day down and one more day closer to us.... but it still leaves a whole heap of days out in front...

Today is the last day of this life....

-this- life, the one that I've managed to make so many missteps and mistakes in, ends today.

No, there will be no funeral.

Its passing is noted though not mourned.

Tomorrow?

Tomorrow starts a new life. My new life. -Our- new life.

Tomorrow I go to see my baby. For the first time in just under a year. (a -year-! :-( )

Tomorrow will not be the stuff of legend. There won't be fireworks, a parade, marching bands, a buffet or an open bar. There won't be screams of lust, pain or joy. There won't be long periods of post-coital bliss spent staring longingly into each others' eyes.

What there will be is reconnection. We'll be in the same place, talking without needing electronics between us. My baby and I are starting our journey tomorrow. We come together seperately, from separate places. We'll circle and dance and poke and prod and touch tentatively. We'll look and see and smell and sit and laugh and talk and have moments of awkward silence.

And then she'll go home to husband.

And Friday, we'll do it again. This time, somewhat more relaxed, with the initial tentativeness and caution eased.

Tomorrow, we meet as two individuals, coming together again after so many missteps and mistakes. Tomorrow we shake, acknowledge our mistakes, make our apologies and then join hands and turn together toward the future.

Friday we spend time together, again.

Tomorrow, we meet as two.

Friday, we leave as one.

And a new life begins.... for both of us.

There will be a short viewing tonight, a quick review of a life gone terribly wrong. Tears will not be shed, donations are not requested. The past will be laid to rest so the future may grow to its full potential.

The past will not be missed.

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

and he does it again

g-d. what a difference 6 hours can make...

six hours ago, i was poring over the calendar, eagerly marking out visit schedules for the rest of the year, both a 2 week cycle (8 visits by years' end) and a 3 week cycle (6 visits) ... i marked them both on a calendar with different colored highlighters... laid them out in a table... outlined the most likely period when i thought she'd be ready to finally be together.. (late october through late november... about visit 4 on the 2 wk cycle, visit 3 or 4 on the 3 wk cycle... either way, i pretty much saw (as i have for a couple months or so now) that my best guess on when we'd be together (as in togethertogether, as in she leaves hubby) was november-ish. preferably earlier in the month, but i pretty much reckoned by turkey day for sure...

and then she came back from her week (10 days) away.

now you'd think that'd be a joyous occasion. but no. once again i fucked it up. i worked really hard on not jumping all over her when she finally reappeared. i've only been anticipating this morning for 10 days, but intensely for the last two or so.... i purposely held back, wanting to make sure i didn't say anything that'd make her feel bad, purposely wanted to give her the time and the space to find her own way back to us... as i thought we'd determined during previous conversations that she needed.

apparently i was wrong at that, too.

so instead, she's in tears. telling me i told her she did it wrong. telling me that it was -i- who didn't seem anxious to be back in touch...

wow... really??

wow... will i -EVER- treat her right?

this morning i was so happily looking at the calendar.. .confident that all that i've waited for, that she's waited for, that we've waited for... for six long years... for the last two years.. for the last 8 months... all that we've wanted and waited for... CONFIDENT that all of that was coming to a head and would BE HERE in less than 100 days.. by the end of the year, if not sooner...

i KNEW it was coming.. .there was nothing but the knowledge of the absolute truth of that, throughout my bones.... every fiber of my being KNEW that us being together, the only real option, was not only finally going to happen, but that we were starting to count down the days!!! it was shaping itself into a date, a REAL date, on the calendar... not too far away.. end of the year, tops... possibly as soon as 45 days away... not a single iota of me in anyway doubted that the only possible outcome, her and i being together, was in fact the only possible outcome. there simply are, were, no other possible outcomes....

and then? i opened my mouth.

when i left for the dr's office this morning, i carried with me the ease and confidence and surety of the knowledge that our wait was soon going to be over, that very soon, we'd fix all this shit and finally be together....

and then? i opened my mouth.

just six short hours.

now, instead of the next 3-1/2 months being the final wait until we're together... instead of the next 3-1/2 months being the period during which the rest of my life would finally come into focus, hell, come into -being-.... instead of feeling this enormous stretch of waiting and desolation and aloneness coming to an end, being replaced by the life we were supposed to have, supposed to be having....

now i see the next 3-1/2 months as the last hurrah. it's not a time for final redemption, but for her to finally figure out that it's not me she wants. time for her to work up the courage to tell me that she can't do it, or doesn't want to do it, or just plain and simple doesn't want me.

i thought my life would be in full bloom, full swing by the end of the year.

nope.

the end of the year looks like it's gonna be my end too.

we'll have visits.... probably 3, maybe even four... until she tells me that as far as she can tell, i don't really want to be with her.... or that she simply can't be with someone who's hurt her so much... or that she's decided life with bf really is what she wants, after all...

and then she'll tell me "go, live your life"... when what she really means is "go, so i can live my life".

i'll brood and stew and spend a couple of weeks drunk, probably losing my job in the meantime. and then I'll take one last trip home, to her... i'll stalk her for a week or so.. i'll want to see her back in full swing with -him-.... and then our hero will ride off into the sunset...

broken. crushed. empty. and hoping for a quick death.

i shouldn't feel like i've been so mistreated, i guess. g-d knows i've had enough chances to turn things around and haven't been able to. g-d knows -she's- given me more than enough chances.

i guess i don't blame her.

i don't much care for me either.

it's been a good run though... almost 52 years... just a month or so shy...

and for the last six and a half years of my life, i had the privilege of meeting, befriending and knowing the woman i was supposed to spend my life with. i do wish for more... i wish we'd had the time together that we should've had.. i wish i'd never hurt her like i have...

and while the lingering effects of me passing through her life will soon fade.. at least by me passing through, she got to meet -him- and find her future.

i really thought her future was -us-. i really did.

probably would've been... if not for me...

looking back, looking forward

today's the day - she comes back.

finally.

about four years ago, on 8/27/2009, she told me she needed to take some time. some time away from work. some time away from me.

today she comes back. she's scheduled to come back.

i know in my heart she's never left... but it's been an awful long time since she was here. it feels like forever.

our first scheduled visit is rapidly approaching. that is, the date that she's said, since may, that she'd definitely see me by - 9/17. so far she's a little shaky about it, but no signs yet that she's close to cancelling.

of course, i like to make the best use of time. so of course i planned flights where i'd get there in time for us to have lunch together and then time after work, then again friday after work. she's already let me know that thursday lunch might be difficult for her. not because of scheduling, or work commitments or other engagements. but because it's -me-. so, 1/3 of our potential meeting opportunities has already been taken off the table. i'm pretty sure that bf and the universe will do their best to minimize any other time she & i might have. will he travel on that thursday, to perhaps give us a few extra hours at night? no, i'm sure not. if anything, he'll probably not only -not- travel, but he'll probably have some early afternoon event scheduled so she'll have to leave work early or right at quitting time, thereby allowing her & i no time. it's pretty likely that the same thing will happen on friday as well. in fact, if bf and the universe don't fuck up thursdays' time, you can count on them fucking fridays' time.

which will kill me. she'll see it in me and in my face. she'll take it as a reason for me to leave. and when i leave her on that friday, she'll be both worried and confident that i'm bolting again, leaving her again. i know i won't, i know there's not even a chance of that... but she doesn't. and so -that- will set us back another month or two.

i even went so far as to lay out a 2-week and a 3-week visit schedule for the rest of the year. (wrt some things, i'm an eternal optimist). She's said a few times that 3 is pretty much the minimum number of visits before she's able to see herself leaving bf and being with me. three visits is either 10/15-16 or 10/29-30. that'd be cool.

by years' end, there's 8 visits on the 2 week schedule and 6 on the 3 week schedule. my hope is that by years' end, we're commuting back and forth as a couple.

fantasy? possibility?

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

in the clouds

sometimes, life is just so good, so wonderful that you wind up walking around with your head in the clouds. and that's a great place to be....

of course, there are dangers with that, too....

there's a danger that the road you're walking will turn a bit, even slightly, and without even noticing it, pretty soon you're not on the same road anymore....

and the danger with straying from the road is that you take that next step..... and find yourself stepping off the precipice...

Thursday, August 13, 2009

i know what dying feels like

i know what dying feels like.

i die everyday. have died everyday for six years. yeah sure, maybe those are little deaths, but they do destroy the soul. i wonder if really dying is like all of those combined or if the only difference in really dying is that the pain actually stops?

it's gotten worse lately. it was worse last year, when i thought we were on the road to recovery, to getting together. but i fucked that up. this january i thought we were headed toward being together again. there's been several times along the way that i thought the end of this and the beginning of us was finally in sight. memorial day, the 4th, labor day, her birthday; and looking ahead i see the next milestones we'll miss - her birthday, halloween, thanksgiving, new years, my birthday.

every day that we end our day not getting together is another death. the time of death is around 5 pm my time, when she tells me she has to go. has to go home to her husband, her home, her life. then hours of hurt and loneliness until i get to wake up alone the next morning, knowing that she's waking up with him. i shower, dress, go to work, wait until she gets in and makes contact. then a few hours of life until she leaves again.

all the times i thought we were close, meaning within a couple months, and then didn't, the deaths become more real, more painful, harder to recover from. each death takes a slightly larger piece of my soul. like my love for her, my soul (i think) is infinite, so hopefully no matter how many deaths there are, no matter how many more deaths there are, no matter how many little chips are destroyed, there'll still me more. hopefully some day she'll want me.

i can't imagine bearing this desolate emptiness even a single day longer. but i can't imagine being without her, either. i laugh very little, except with her. i -feel- very little (besides emptiness and pain) except with her. there is a g-d, because he made her. i hope he doesn't let my heart die before she can heal.

it used to be that when a date was ruled out it was a terrible, crushing moment/day. just today she confirmed, indirectly, that there will not be a visit next week, even though she said she'd think about it. i'm crushed, hopelessly crushed and in pain. but it's a dull pain, i feel it as a dull pain, even though i know it's huge. there's only so much pain the brain and the heart can register before being on overload. at that point, you're aware of the pain, but can't really feel it or seperate it from the rest of the sea of pain.

and consider that... she thought about a visit next week... and still can't do it. g-d.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

why is he more important?

here's a news flash: i'm not doing good.

how is it possible that at this stage in the life of a middle age, middle class white professional there's not a single thing that's going well? Okay, maybe that's not entirely true; my current contract gig is a -great- place to work, but even that is overshadowed by potential downside. They might offer me a permanent position - which would be great. they have great benefits, a great working atmosphere, solid company. the downside is that because of my alimony and pending bankruptcy, i may not be able to -afford- to work here because it'll likely be about a 20% cut from what i'm making now. anyway, that's months down the road.

i'm pretty sure there's a cavity in my bottom back right molar. it just popped up yesterday with sudden sensitivity to heat and cold. great. that's my reward for not going to the dentist for the last 2 years. that was all part of my "fuck it, my life sucks so what's the point" campaign. which has been on hold a little but is gonna come back full swing pretty soon. B and i had an agreement; i'd go to the doctor to get some things looked at and she'd follow up with a health issue that she's been avoiding for two years. so, i've been going to the doctor. diagnosed with diabetes & high blood pressure, both being addressed now with diet and medication. had a hernia repaired. now that surgery's past i can get to the dentist for that long delayed work. B hasn't kept up her end of the bargain. she's no closer to getting to the doctor than she was 8 weeks ago. the irony of it is that i've been addressing my health issues, which may help me live longer. won't that be great if she decides not to be with me?

here's a good news/bad news thing: B's been sending me pics over the last few weeks. but yahoo hasn't been delivering them. from yahoo to yahoo - no picture delivery. from her to my work, no problem (but hard to send XXX shots to work, not that they are). from me to her, no problem. the ONLY time it doesn't work is when she's sending pics to me. go figure. well that's not entirely true. when there's something i want her to read and there's limited time before she has to go, those emails, from me to her, never seem to go through either.

bf, with the help of the universe, has been finding new and novel ways to interfere with the already limited amount of time that B and i have to talk. he's almost completely stopped traveling. he still goes, maybe once a week, but only for a few hours, not the 9am - 7pm trips he used to make. those were great because it gave B and i a couple extra hours twice a week to talk. of course, those trips don't compare to the 5am - midnight trips he took twice a week last year which gave B many morning hours and many, many evening hours to fuck -him-. and that's besides the every weekend, all weekend 3somes in which bf -invited- him to come play. the last couple of weeks he's traveled once on his usual tues/thurs trips; and then he came back at 5. now you'd think that'd be no big deal, because B stays at the office and we usually talk to 630 anyway. but no! because bf was gonna be driving by the office around 5, she had to leave early because she doesn't want him stopping in to her office, because it might not be "clean" (of incriminating evidence). so, not only does he hardly travel at all, he comes back early, and his coming back early cuts our time extra short. ain't life grand? the other day, bf and the universe cooked up a particularly good one. B teaches classes Mon & Wed night; bf usually (used to, anyway) travels on Tues & Thurs. Her car started acting up Monday, so he took it on Tues to check it out. no, of course he didn't travel. he decided it had to go to the shop (which it did - it sounded terrible). which meant that bf had to pick B up at the office. and of course he came early, cutting an hour and a half out of the 2 hours we might normally had had.

i can't wait to see what's in store for the rest of this week/month/year. it's been a banner time so far in so many ways.

B and i had been video skyping from her office after work for many weeks. suddenly it stopped working. for a while she could see me but i couldn't see her. then that stopped too. i've suggested several alternatives: other video chat clients, getting her network guy to verify router settings, piggybacking on someone else's wifi. yes, yes, yes, she's agreed to all of them. but, she's pretty busy, granted. now, i completely understand that even though she says she wants me to be able to see her, that i probably haven't really earned the right yet. perhaps she'd let me see her before she was really ready to and now she's changed her mind. maybe i've been a badder boy than a good boy and i've lost the right to see her. i get it. she's the one who's been hurt and she absolutely has the right to determine what privileges i get wrt her. but here's the real kicker. she's said all along that it was important to her to be able to see me, that she -wanted- to see me (in video, not in person). but it's not important enough to fix. it would seem i've been demoted from that as well.

but this is the thing that's been gnawing at me for some time... B's biggest concern has always been that she doesn't want bf hurt by learning that she was cheating on him or being caught with indisputable evidence that she's involved with someone else. that's both understandable and honorable. nobody wants to be blindsided by finding out that their SO is leaving them for someone else. (like mine did). her goal is to, when she's ready, tell him she's not happy and that she's leaving. in the meantime, she's willing to do anything to prevent bf from finding out and being hurt. i know that staying there is hurting her; she's depressed, getting headaches and an ulcer, just generally not happy. but here's what i can't answer: why is protecting bf's feelings so much more important that her own happiness and well being? she knows what staying there is doing to her. she also knows what staying there is doing to -me-. why is protecting bf, even at the cost of the damage to herself and the hurt and damage to me (who she says she loves), more important?. why is bf more important than her and i put together? what makes his feelings and his emotional health so fucking important? her staying there is killing her and it's killing me. WHY IS HE MORE IMPORTANT? i left my life because i thought there -might be a chance- that B would be with me. B won't leave hers even though she doesn't want to be there and the life she does want is standing here, waiting with open arms.

maybe the problem really is -me-.

why won't she leave bf now, even if not to be with me, but just to be on her own for awhile? she repeatedly says she's dead there, can't stand being there, doesn't love him, will have no problem leaving him. so why not do it? she's said she needs time to heal from the hurts and betrayals i've caused her. but, she's not able to heal being there with bf. she can't/won't come to me before she's had time to heal. catch-22. she needs to heal before coming to me, can't heal at home with bf and won't leave bf until she feels better. i think that -together- we could both heal so much faster than trying to do it alone. at the very least, a few months of her living on her own would do her so much good. she'd be away from the home that she doesn't want to be in. she'd have free time, time on her own, to spend however she wanted. we'd have so much more time to talk and so much less pressure on us. even though i wouldn't be happy that she left bf but still isn't coming to me, at least it'd be a step in the right direction. even if she then decided that she couldn't be with me, at least she'd be free of bf and able to persue the life she wants.

maybe the problem really is -me-.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

stress & a bad feeling

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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Ani L'ahuvati, v'ahuvati Li

thursday, 7/23/09, was an epic day.

it was the day my future was sealed.

in hebrew there's a well known bridal/love verse:
Ani L'ahuvati, v'ahuvati Li
it's from the Song of Soloman. it means:
I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine.
thursday, my love and i exchanged rings. nothing legal, nothing elaborate. intensely personal. intensely meaningful. we weren't even in person - we did it via video call, having previously shipped rings to each other.

i love the feel of her ring on my hand. it's a constant, tangible reminder that she is with me.

our future is here.

Sidenote: Hebrew is one of the languages that assigns gender to nouns. The above is as said from a man to a woman. The female to male version would be: Ani L'ahuvi v'ahuvi Li. but it still means "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine".

Monday, July 27, 2009

maybe it is me, after all

i remember coming to this city. i was very apprehensive about leaving our home state in feb for a job here. it felt like such a huge separation, like putting yet another obstacle between us, interfereing with our attempt to get back together.

as always, she was the voice of reason. calmly laid out the pros and cons, the good and the bad. told me time and again that the distance would have no impact on us. told me that it'd be good for me to get a new start somewhere new; new people, new work, new scenery.

my biggest fear was that the distance would make it easier for her to stay away, make it less likely that she'd tell me to come be with her. and what I remember most is her telling me, time and again, "you can always leave in a couple months" [for us to be together].

that was mid-Feb. in feb she told me she was taking a weekend trip in March and maybe i could see her then.

March. no.

April. in april she told me that memorial day was very possible, maybe even likely.

May. not so much.

June. in june she said the 4th of july would be possible, that maybe i could come to her party not as her secret lover, but just as a friend.

July. no.

and now, August. she's promised she'll let me come see her at her birthday in late Sep. "See", not fuck, not kiss, not start our life together... "see"

now that's only a couple months. "you can come see me in a couple months" - a far cry from "you can always leave in a couple months [and come be with me]".

what have i done to this woman, the -one- that i love so much, that she can't even imagine seeing me in person?

maybe it's not her hurts that keep us apart; maybe it is me after all. i mean, i have a lot going for me. i'm a fat, middle aged guy, hypertensive, high cholesterol, diabetic, broke, twice divorced, heavy lifetime alimony payments, soon to be filing bankruptcy, dwindling career choices and opportunities, 11 years her senior and with a history of breaking her heart.

what hot, sexy woman -wouldn't- want to be with me?

oh, right... all of them.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

knowing isn't always better...

i just found out i'm diabetic. way diabetic.

i guess congratulations are in order - for me. i've worked hard over the last 6 years to abuse myself as much as possible. bad food, fast food, rich food. alcohol. tons and tons of alcohol. for the last 2 years i've drank about 3-4L of vodka per week. for a couple years before that it was 1-2L per week.

looks like i've succeeded.

i wonder if i was subconsciously trying to prove something to myself. we've just determined that there are no health issues, no social issues, no life issues that are severe enough, that no threat to my life or mental health are enough to get her to overcome her fears and come to me. nothing that can happen to me is enough for her to give up those fears and start our life together. which is the one thing i need.

and now i've proved it.

knowing isn't always better...

useless thoughts and feelings

i'm not feeling taken seriously or something. i know you love me because i feel in my heart that it must be so. i know because of the way you care about me.

the way we are towards each other, the desire and lust we feel, the passion we hold for each other and the love we give each other is like no other couple ever could. i'm sure there's a lot of couples that feel that - but truly, none could compare to what we have. compared to every other couple out there, we shine light years ahead of all the rest.

save one. do you know that compared to that one other couple, I feel like we're just another long term, married, average couple? do you know the shock and desperation and feeling of despair that arises from the clash of -that- with how i feel toward us? how completely opposite it is from what i feel for you and for us?

what echoes in my mind are the times you told me you'd NEVER "rush in" to get back with (to) me, even on a monday. how you said you'll NEVER do that. and you told the truth...about me, anyway.

you've told me how you'd rush to his house in the morning, let yourself in and shed clothes on the way to his bed before spending those morning hours with him. how you'd rush to his house at lunch for those long lunches. how you got so caught up with him that you lost track of time and almost got caught.

today, with all the things we're trying to overcome, with the pain that we both feel at being separated and out of touch over the weekend, you still don't rush back in. you can even make unscheduled stops and not think to call. not that i was expecting a call; i just assumed you were late, overslept, got busy. you rushed to him, eager. tearing off your clothes as you walked through the door. and tell me you overslept. or had errands. it's not a high priority that video problems get fixed. never mind what i want - YOU used to -want- to see me. now? oh well, guess video's still not working.

why is that kind of passion missing when you think of me & us? are we so much less than you and he were/are? when was the last time you ran to us, eager for passion? when was the last time you stripped off your clothes as you anticipated our time together? when was the last time you initiated sex? or even just talked sex to me, on your own, because you wanted to? when, if ever, was the last time you wanted to surprise me with a skype fuck?

a couple weeks ago (it may be just one, feels longer) we talked about doing something to alter our mindset a little. we talked about acting as though we really were a couple, already together, who're just temporarily seperated because of work or something. you agreed, liked the idea, thought it might help us feel closer, might help you let down your guard, feel more free with yourself. you cautioned me that it wouldn't just burst free, that it'd take a little while. to be honest, it may have been only a week ago; it feels like two to me. have you felt anything? have you even once had a fleeting thought that you'd like to give me -whatever-? or do something different? do you remember us talking about this? you cautioned me and i concurred. i knew the floodgates wouldn't come down suddenly. but i thought you were going to lower the walls a little. maybe push yourself to do somethign different - somethign as difficult as letting me see that (*&(#!@ picture of you in a hat and pony tail. g-d baby :-(. am i so low that i can't even see that? you rush to get naked with him just minutes after bf leaves but you can't bring yourself to let me see you clothed, in a hat? how little must i mean to you?

Thursday, May 14, 2009

life, rev 3

well, at least some uncertainty's been removed.

there will not be an -us- until april-ish, 2010, at best.

there won't be any B in my summer.

she has promised, as best she can do, that she'll let me see her right before her birthday - which is a little over four months from now. add the required number of visits, the time between and the holiday bumps to figure out where that puts the first possibility of there being an -us- that consists of B and i. i'm too numb to do it right this second, but i guess it works out to april-ish.

of course, that depends on her actually being able to see me right before her birthday. she thought for sure we'd be seeing each other by memorial day, but that ain't happening. four+ more months seems like the odds get raised, but there's no guarantee.

so what the f-ck do i do with my summer now? i'd really planned on seeing her, really thought it was a possibility, something she wanted. despite being the eternal pessimist, i had truly let myself believe that we'd be seeing each other this summer. i KNOWKNOWKNOWKNOWKNOWKNOWFUCKINGKNOW that things never work out like i want, that's why i'm a fucking pessimist. so why do i let myself be so optimistic with regard to her? oh, right - because she's the woman i love. because i can't imagine a life without her in it. because i don't want a life without her in it. because there is no life without her in it.

this does remove some uncertainty though. i'll definitely be going through my legal issues on my own. i know where i -won't- be living.

damn. when the numbness wears off, this is really gonna suck. and hurt.

Friday, May 08, 2009

life, revised

well, obviously a visit didn't happen this week. it wasn't even discussed.

and since it wasn't even raised as a possibility, it's safe to assume that next week won't either. and she's gone the following week. so that means that May isn't gonna happen.

that's a -real- disappointment, for a couple of reasons. the first is obvious: she still doesn't want to see me.

the second is more of a personal disappointment (as though being told, even round-aboutly, that your love doesn't want to see you isn't a personal disappointment). to the best of my recollection, i'd asked her, back in march during the long weekend of talk time we had when she was traveling, if she thought we'd see each other by Memorial Day. and she'd quickly, positively and quite firmly said "oh yes, definitely by then".

maybe not so much. but i have to say, it did make me feel a little better during all those intervening weeks.

sigh.

while i'm sure her goal wasn't to make the boy feel a little better, it did accomplish something more important: it relieved her of some of the stress from me of pushing for a visit.

and now we're here. or more accurately, she's there and i'm here. one thousand, one hundred and fifty one miles apart.

if only it were just miles. miles can be conquered by car, by plane, hell, by walking if need be.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Monday, March 30, 2009

what is and what ain't

it's been three weeks since she went away for the weekend and i had her almost completely to myself for 48 hours. since then, there's been a couple times i've had her on the phone for >6 hours. it's been 11 weeks since her monday night call to me saying she missed me and us. and it's been 18 weeks since that terrible saturday in november. it feels like a long time. but then, i was the doer, not the doee.

i've tried many times to get her to just chuck it all and let us start, even though she's still hurt. she can't trust me yet, can't trust that i won't leave her again and from a purely objective point of view, i don't blame her. i know what's in my heart and i tell her that, but her response is always "but you were just as sure last time, too." good point. what she can't know though, is what those times of being without her, during which i was sure i'd lost her for good did to me. she can't know, just like each time has beat her down, made her more unsure of us, how each time away from her, how the panic set in when i finally realized that my future wasn't gonna be with her.

eighteen weeks. four and a half months. and we've progressed to the point where she'll usually let me see her on skype. not always, but often. not to the point where i can assume it - i'm still always surprised when we talk and she won't let me see her. there's still no new pics, no views of her in a skirt, or dressed to teach class, or her sexy legs and ass, still none of the pics her girlfriend took of her (that she was gonna send me before -then-), none of the pics she says she's taken of herself in clothes i've bought for her or outfits i've suggested for her. she wouldn't even let me see a pic of her from the marathon she ran - probably because she was wearing -his- hat and -he- was with them (her and bf) the whole day.

when she went away for the weekend, -she'd- mentioned that -maybe- it'd be an opportunity for us to meet. that didn't happen - when it came down to it, she couldn't stomach the thought of being in the same room with me. not to mention that my very presence would have spoiled another area of her life - the area that bf is from. since then, i've tried to get her to let me visit, tried to get her to leave bf and come see me, even tried to just get her to leave bf and get her own place. no, no and no. still can't stand to see me, can't do that yet, has to be her own idea on her own time. on that she's been consistent since the first time we talked.

so soon, bf will be taking a weekend trip and she'll be home alone. to me, it's a perfect opportunity for me to fly in on a thursday, spend thursday night with her (coz we usually get a fair amount of time on thursdays), then friday afternoon and then saturday through sunday afternoon. sex and fucking? not a chance. talking, being together, touching? yeah, that'd be possible.

only one small problem.

let's ignore the fact that she can't see me still. or that she won't let me see her, other than from behind the safety of her desk or her couch and never anything except from her neck up. never mind the fact that she tells me she can see us together, wants to be together. or that it's been almost a month since since her trip, almost two months since she first mentioned this trip, which will be late next month. or that she hasn't mentioned it at all. something significant will probably happen for me around the end of march, which she knows about and is somewhat involved in. yesterday i asked her if she thought we'd see each other by then, within that two months. she didn't say "no", but she certainly didn't say "yes" either. she said "i'd like to say yes...". i know her well enough and we've been through enough times where that's been her answer to know that seeing her is not something i can count on. it could happen, but i really need to not get my hopes up. if possible, i should try to completely forget about even asking or hoping to see her, otherwise i'll start pressuring her to do so and that will send her the other way.

so, let's follow the time line. almost five months since -then-. almost three months since she called. almost a month since a real opportunity to see her was passed over. less than a month till the next opportunity to spend time together. and she isn't sure that in -two- more months she'll yet be able to stomach being in the same place with me.

what is is that i love her. i can't picture my life without her. what is is that because of what i've done to her, she isn't sure, despite also believing that we belong together, that she can find her way back to an -us-; which means that no matter how much she wants it, needs it, sees it, she might just not be able to bring herself to do it.

what ain't is the romantic notion/hopes i had that i'd be able to call her up, ask her to leave bf and fly to me, spend a few weeks here wrapping up this part of my life, then we drive back to her area and we start living our life. what ain't is the equally romantic wish that she'd call me one day and just say "be here tonight" and that while i was winging toward her at 500mph she'd be home packing her bags and telling bf she was done. what ain't is the hope that we could be together anytime soon. what ain't is the frightening reality that the legal and financial hardships that are relentlessly getting closer to me will be weathered without her by my side; i'll have her support, but it won't be in person.

what -is-, everyday, is another day of the fucking reality of what i did to her, to me, to us.

fuck.