Breaking the News

I had been dreading the moment since JT's Mommy told Sassafras Mama that she wouldn't be coming home. The boys have been friends since they were four and two... Aunt Lisa has been a part of D's life for pretty much as long as he can remember.

I felt the way I did when my Uncle George died: sad that I had to introduce my son to one of life's harsher realities.

I had really hoped to keep divorce off his radar for another few years. But now that he's bound to find out relatively soon, I wanted to be the one to break the news.

Finally tonight we had the chance I'd been waiting for... both parents home, no pressing commitments, good spirits all around. I told D that we had some news to share with him that was kind of sad, and that we wanted to tell him when we were both there in case he needed us. He immediately settled down and looked at us expectantly. When we told him the news, his first reaction was relief. "Well, it could have been SUPER DUPER bad news, like that JT was moving." (He's already experienced JT moving further away, and knows he doesn't like that one bit.) We told him that we might need to be especially kind, that JT and Stacy's hearts are really hurting about it, and he said, "and herself... Aunt Lisa, too," and we said yes, of course. Then we told him that we weren't going anywhere, and he looked at us as if to say, Well, of course.

After a few moments he said, "I didn't think that could ever happen."

We said we hadn't thought so either. And then, like a summer storm, the moment passed.

The rest of the night was regular Friday fare. We ate some apple pie and played a round of Chutes and Ladders. We are so lucky that for our little boy, this is just a true life story about someone else's life. The real lightning strike was up in Dunellen.