Happy Anniversary!
Today, I'm posting to wish my wonderful wife a happy anniversary. As of tomorrow, we've now been married for 22 years.
But, this comes with a feeling that I need to disclose some additional information about the reasons why my relationship with my parents collapsed.
My father was the driving force in pushing me to reconnect with my mother. She (my mother) was the driving force in ruining every relationship I had with a young woman before my entry to the US Army. Either the girl wasn't acceptable, or she was from the wrong side of the tracks in her home town, or (and to me this was the worst offense of all) she was the daughter of my mother's high school rival. In all cases, my mother either manufactured or capitalized on an imagined offense to force a break-up between me and the girl I'd developed a relationship with.
So, imagine my " surprise " when, in my second phone conversation with my mother in over 20 years, she asked if my wife and I were still together. I honestly told mom "YES, we're doing well." My mother's response was, "Oh, that's too bad." I knew right then that this attempt to mend the fences between us was doomed to end in failure, but I continued to try for another 2 months.
When I finally told my wife about that conversation, I have to admit that my wife knew my mother before she met me. They worked at the same community college, and my mother had been instrumental in getting my wife to start attending church where my step-father was a preacher. When I met my wife, one of the first things my mother told me was, "Stay away from her." Too bad for mom that my wife came to me and wanted to push the relationship beyond a friendship.
When I told my wife about the comment my mom made, after mom found out that my wife and I were still together, my wife's response was, "That BITCH!" My wife knows all about how my mother was responsible for my hospitalization while mom was trying to "deprogram" me, and my wife knows that mom never wanted me to develop a relationship with my wife.
Hindsight is 20/20, or so they say. If it is true, all I can say is that my mother has never wanted me to have a happy, successful relationship. I offer sincere apologies to all of my former girlfriends, and my wife, for what they endured because of my mother.