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OPINION
Relationships - Older And Wiser
November 09, 2008
IdeaSmith
IdeaSmith
Tell me what it's like.
she says.
Does it get better with time?
I pause and wonder what to say.
Can I give her an honest answer?
That it won't..in some ways.
That heartbreak hurts as much at 30 as it does at 20.
That you never quite get used to the pain of letting go, no matter how often you've done it....though you might learn the lesson of numbness.
That love and cheating and tenderness and passion will continue to turn up unanticipated...and unwelcome, no matter how clear your vision stays.
That eventually dreams will become the last survival tactic for those who don't have God or Family or FairyTales anymore.
No, I decide, I can't tell her all of that. I can't paint the next decade in a pall of gloom before it's even arrived.
So I take a deep breath and say instead...
What does change is all the things in your head.
With the pain, there will be the aspirin of reality,
a little snapshot of the last time that grows clearer with time,
the knowledge that you survived that and so this you will too.
With time, other people's opinions
will start to matter less than your own
or at least you'll be able to pick and choose what you want to believe.
And if you're smart...and I know you are,
you'll have a Plan B or at the very least...an exit route.
So I end without lies, telling her the truth...but perhaps not all of it.
And I wish there were some lessons one didn't need to learn.
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Relationships - Older And Wiser
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temporal
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November 9, 2008
01:54 PM
IS:
well composed, sad, bitter, ironic and life-like
think it was abe who said "sorrows come to all but we the older have learned to ever expect them" or words to that affect
the exit strategy...neat, surgical,quick...is just one option...the road is never straight...too many unexpected turns and twists
Deepti Lamba
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November 10, 2008
12:15 AM
The exit route is always awkward and painful. I'm glad my days of suffering those are well over.
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