This is a recurring theme in my life. Trying to decide if it is a good thing or a not-so-good thing. People come into and go out of each other’s lives with regularity. For the most part to fill a gap. To fill a need or solve an immediate issue.
I seem to be a gap filler.
Most prominent was a 2-year one that prepared her for the next guy. Now I would rather be the “last guy” not the “next guy.” But sometimes we are role players and don’t know it. Only hindsight helps us understand. It was great times then it ended. And we both learned from the encounter. She had been married for decades and newly divorced when we met. She told me many times I taught her how she was supposed to be treated. What I didn’t grasp soon enough was that that meant I was teaching her so she could find what was next for her. I didn’t get to keep her. Or her me.And there have been others (and not necessarily romantic partners). All good people. With something to learn. And to teach. Widows, troubled people, long-time singles. Attach a label of someone who is troubled or needs a guide and I think I’ve encountered them.
As Ms. Mahr says, “I was the lantern they needed until they got to the light then dropped me.” Good work if you can find it. Or it finds you.
How’s that Stephen Stills quote go?
“There are three things men can do with women: love them, suffer for them, or turn them into literature.”
Godspeed (fill in the initials here).
Relentless
(*image courtesy of Kristina Mahr; logo courtesy of GAP Clothing)
