The Wedding Album 

The phone call was blistering.

For nearly forty minutes I had strips torn off me until there was nothing left.

It was my fault she sold her business, it was my fault she didn’t own her home, it was my fault she didn’t have more money in super…and, and, and.

I got blamed for everything but climate change.

For starters, I didn’t even know her when she sold her business.

So even though I didn’t enjoy the accusations being levelled at me, I knew they weren’t true.

Here’s the bit that threw me…

Only two weeks earlier, I hand delivered her a bunch of flowers and some slow-cooked chicken soup after she had a nasty reaction to some chemotherapy.

She was my last appointment before Christmas.

And now I was her dart board.

By the time I was sitting in front of her a few weeks later, I had an inkling of what had happened…

“How was Christmas?” I asked.

“That’s weeks ago, move on!” she snapped

“What triggered you to call me three days after Christmas?”

She just sat there with her arms folded and lips pursed giving me the worst death stare until she couldn’t hold on any longer.

And then she burst into tears.

Short story goes like this…

This lady had been estranged from her husband for a few years and this was their first Christmas together.

However, the husband completely ignored her all day and gave his attention to the daughter-in-law.

The next day, she went to her self-storage unit and started riffling through her stuff until she found her wedding album.

She said she just sat there for hours looking at the photos wondering how her marriage had come to this.

They had a beautiful home, three adorable children, and a very successful business she and her husband had built together.

But since the separation, they’d sold the business and house and now she was renting.

She had enough money to buy a small home of her own but her accountant convinced her to buy two investment properties instead.

And now she was grieving.

Christmas can do that. The weeks either side can be very emotive.

Grief can manifest in the form of anger, resentment, guilt, jealousy, blame, and depression.

It can also lead to irrational decision-making and knee-jerk reactions.

For example, it’s not uncommon for men to get really short hair cuts or for women to completely change their hair style…or vice versa.

Here’s another one. If someone ‘blows-up’ and vents their anger at you, in a perverse sort of way it’s a compliment because they feel safe in your company.

That’s why it’s easy to hurt the ones you love.

When I first met this lady, her two biggest fears were not enjoying good health and dying alone.

And now she was staring both fears in the face.

Her phone call after Christmas wasn’t really about houses and stuff.

She was scared.

And she just wanted someone to scream at.

Have a great weekend!

Adam

Note – the above story is not recent.

Back paddock – if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you. (some bloke’s t-shirt)

Did you enjoy that? Why not ‘Join The Herd’ and receive my weekly Moowsletter every Saturday at 12pm. Just click on the green sticker to your right.

Thanks for dropping by.