The Truth About Love

I’ve been riding shotgun alongside someone headed down the bumpy road to divorce (not mine).   It’s a twisted mess so sad and awful I question how love can warp into something so unrecognizable.  A few gory details:

-House in foreclosure, check

-Numerous visits by police, check

-Unfiltered screaming in front of children, check

-Character assassination, check

-Frivolous spending, check

-Emotional abuse, check

-Alienation of affection, check

-Unemployment, check

-Chronic infidelity, check

And still, my friend holds on, wearing his heart on his sleeve.  Somehow commitment, history, and forgiveness will prevail…the life he had will not crumble.  (Insert screeching break sound) Oh but it is.  I’m staring at the wreckage and he doesn’t want to.  Just because he never fell out of love doesn’t give him the right to shun reality… however painful.  Just because she did, there’s no hall pass to live in an alternate universe.  When you love you assume risk.  Things might change.  Either hold hands for the full ride or get out.   And if you bail, play it straight.  Look the person in the eye and tell them you do not love them anymore.  Trust me,  they can live without you.  You have no right to rob them of time and harmony.  You loved them once, fill that gaping hole with respect.  And you, the one over there getting dumped?  Take your lumps.  Listen, accept the truth, let it go…a broken heart has no recourse but to mend itself.

Love is hard, love is grand, love is one hell of a ride…