American Woman~

Five years ago, on Memorial Day weekend, my ex left for someone she had met just a few months before. I still have cards she wrote just a week before she left telling me how she was looking forward to spending our lives together. I keep them because occasionally someone asks me why I couldn't see it coming. I need proof to remind myself that I wasn't blind, I was just trusting - and that's not a bad thing.

I ran a marathon that year as a way to deal with getting through a few months - something to use as a goal to focus on. I've decided to run another marathon this year to commemorate the past five years and to put it behind me. I'm happy to say that when my ex occasionally contacts me (and she does every time she's single) I no longer feel that tug on my heart. I'll be moving soon out of the house that we shared and for the first time in five years she will have no way to contact me. Knowing that has given me a great sense of relief.



My friend Jacque just returned home from her first year in grad school to find out that her girlfriend had been cheating on her for most of the past year. Jacque had felt torn the whole time she was here in school feeling like maybe she had made the wrong decision to move so far away. Now she feels stupid for not knowing that her girlfriend was lying to her for a year. She's just beginning that journey that I am finishing.

Here's a little weekend music for Jacque and anyone else who lost someone in the same way~

Lenny Kravitz - American Woman

Christina Aguillera - Fighter