Best of all, we got the chance to just talk. We don't often get time alone to speak freely, without texting. We paused our movie and cozied up on the couch. At one point, he apologized for feeling so talkative that day. Really? I soak up such moments, and wish they happened much more often. We always discover more parallels we have
Mid-afternoon, we picked up our respective children and had a wonderful evening with them, too.
Our "family" evenings (as we've come to think of them) are spent with dinner, movies, games, and Legos. One of our favorite games is Apples to Apples, the Disney edition. If you haven't played this game, the short description is that the "judge" player puts down an adjective card and all the others (anonymously) put down noun cards to go with it, then the judge decides whose noun wins the round. You can lobby for your noun card to win, too. Every time we play, we laugh until it hurts!
One night, during the game, Jacob excused himself for a moment and disappeared in the direction of his office, returning shortly without explanation. When it was my turn to be judge, I found out why. As I'm flipping through the noun cards everyone else put down, I find this:
(in case you can't read it, the note says: Pick this one)
It caught me by surprise, and I about laughed my ass off. "Gee, which card is yours?" I asked. Jacob grinned.
I can't remember at the moment, if I ended up picking this card for that round. I also kept the note. Later, I was looking at it and thought how each day, I find new ways this man is beautiful to me. I texted him.
"Some thing occurs to me, about your 'Pick this one' note," I said. "In many ways, I already have."
More smiles.
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Last week was an up and down kind of week. It started out rough. I was typing away on this blog, during a break at work, when the light from my window dimmed. It's behind me, so I turned to see what happened.
Ranger stood there. Looking in the window at me.
When he saw I spotted him, he came into the building and sat in my tiny office. He seems to think he can talk his way out of this situation. Like, if he can convince me to let things go back the way they were, then he doesn't really have to get off his ass and get his life in order.
Let me say here that I really do hate hurting him. I hate hurting anyone's feelings. But he's putting in the position of saying things that he doesn't want to hear (again), and saying them bluntly. I mean, I don't have a heart of stone. I cared about the man for a long time.
For the next hour, we rehashed why I'm not with him and that, no, his promises to do better are not going to fix things. Promises mean nothing. Words from Ranger mean nothing. Too many lies and secrets have existed there, and still do. I can't live or love that way.
He seemed genuinely surprised. "So, me just saying so isn't enough?"
Right. Not that this should be news to him. But right.
For an hour, we did this. At my place of work. That cannot happen. I told him that he couldn't show up like that again.
"But doesn't it prove something that I'm willing to walk all this way to see you? Especially when I'm hurting like this?"
No, it doesn't. It's creepy. And the hurting he's referring to is not emotional; it's physical. He has a serious problem with his back. So, he thinks he's proving something because, in his mind, he's hurting himself for me.
Does that sound sick to anyone else? Because I'm a little disturbed by the whole thing.
I finally had to leave to get him to leave. I literally had to take him somewhere else to get him away from my office.
The rest of the week was ok. It's the week before payday, so things are always a little thin. I got my tax refund, which was much less than previous years. I booked the annual Spring Break jaunt with Daughter, but on a tighter budget this year.
I discovered a Borders gift card that I didn't know I had. Our local store is closing, so I high-tailed it over there. They were out of the books I wanted, so I snagged a Lego set that I thought would be fun at Jacob's.
That night, at his house, I lamented that I wasn't able to find those books. "What books?" he said. I gave him the author's name. He grinned. "What titles?"
I named them, and he went to his shelves. "You should check with me before buying any books now," he said, handing me the exact title I wanted. He had the other one, too, but it was out on loan.
I love this man!
After dinner, more smiles. He'd gotten Lego sets for everyone. As we dumped out the bags of little bricks all over the dining table, he said, "We're gonna need a bigger table."
True. It was covered. We played, and we were all very happy.
Ranger stood there. Looking in the window at me.
When he saw I spotted him, he came into the building and sat in my tiny office. He seems to think he can talk his way out of this situation. Like, if he can convince me to let things go back the way they were, then he doesn't really have to get off his ass and get his life in order.
Let me say here that I really do hate hurting him. I hate hurting anyone's feelings. But he's putting in the position of saying things that he doesn't want to hear (again), and saying them bluntly. I mean, I don't have a heart of stone. I cared about the man for a long time.
For the next hour, we rehashed why I'm not with him and that, no, his promises to do better are not going to fix things. Promises mean nothing. Words from Ranger mean nothing. Too many lies and secrets have existed there, and still do. I can't live or love that way.
He seemed genuinely surprised. "So, me just saying so isn't enough?"
Right. Not that this should be news to him. But right.
For an hour, we did this. At my place of work. That cannot happen. I told him that he couldn't show up like that again.
"But doesn't it prove something that I'm willing to walk all this way to see you? Especially when I'm hurting like this?"
No, it doesn't. It's creepy. And the hurting he's referring to is not emotional; it's physical. He has a serious problem with his back. So, he thinks he's proving something because, in his mind, he's hurting himself for me.
Does that sound sick to anyone else? Because I'm a little disturbed by the whole thing.
I finally had to leave to get him to leave. I literally had to take him somewhere else to get him away from my office.
The rest of the week was ok. It's the week before payday, so things are always a little thin. I got my tax refund, which was much less than previous years. I booked the annual Spring Break jaunt with Daughter, but on a tighter budget this year.
I discovered a Borders gift card that I didn't know I had. Our local store is closing, so I high-tailed it over there. They were out of the books I wanted, so I snagged a Lego set that I thought would be fun at Jacob's.
That night, at his house, I lamented that I wasn't able to find those books. "What books?" he said. I gave him the author's name. He grinned. "What titles?"
I named them, and he went to his shelves. "You should check with me before buying any books now," he said, handing me the exact title I wanted. He had the other one, too, but it was out on loan.
I love this man!
After dinner, more smiles. He'd gotten Lego sets for everyone. As we dumped out the bags of little bricks all over the dining table, he said, "We're gonna need a bigger table."
True. It was covered. We played, and we were all very happy.
1 comment:
I once dated a guy who behaved in a way shockingly similar to the way Ranger is now acting. I didn't see all the ways in which it was completely disturbing at the time, and I am glad that you have immediately recognized it. Physical and emotional pain makes people do things that they just shouldn't do, and I hope that Ranger doesn't continue down this path with you.
And reading about your time with Jacob just makes me smile - the interactions with him and his daughters just speak volumes about where his priorities lie and about what is truly important to him.
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