Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

I left my marriage nine years ago. While I agreed to see if we could work things out a couple of years ago, it became clear, for me, the marriage was over. I asked my husband to leave me alone, but true to his nature he continued to try and be a part of my life. He would text several times a day, trying to carry on a conversation. No matter how many times I asked him to stop, he wouldn't. I finally blocked him completely. His calls went straight to voicemail so I could delete them without having to listen to them. Being free from his noise was absolute bliss. The last year we've had very little contact, and over the last two months there has been no contact at all. I'm ready to call this marriage done, so I retained a lawyer and had the first meeting to learn what I'm facing. It's not pretty, but I'm ready to cut ties completely. I told my lawyer I would talk to my husband and ask him to sign the papers without fussing and dragging this out, but deep down I knew...

Well, the whole "my siblings and I have been getting along great" after Dad passed away has ended. We've all heard the horror stories of siblings who fight over the estate, taking each other to court or whatever, and I was so glad that wasn't the case for us. I was proud of how my siblings and I were in agreement about so many aspects concerning what to do with Dad's things. Little did I realize . . . At this point, speaking for myself (though I've heard from another sibling that this is true for at least one other in the group as well), I've washed my hands of one of my siblings. The one causing the trouble. And I have said as much to this sibling. I will no longer try to get in contact. Not that it would do any good. This sibling won't respond anyways. Like a petulant child. Or maybe a chicken shit. Probably 1/4 petulant child and 3/4 chicken shit. Because this sibling knows their actions are truly shameful.  Backhanded accusations have been thrown t...

My husband tried to guilt me into going to dinner with him this evening. I stood my ground, though, and politely declined. The invitation came via text, asking me if I'd like to join him for an evening I would regret. Seriously? Why in the world would anyone say yes to an invitation like this? I replied, basically asking why would I do this to myself? Then I said thank you for the invite, but no. The next text suggested I needed to have dinner with him for his health. Wow. My response was just, "Nice." He replied by saying, okay, it was for his mental health. Again, wow. I didn't respond to his last text. I figured I was only going to continue receiving texts designed to make me feel guilty. I refuse to take on that burden. When my husband brought Ado home after having him over for the day, he asked me again to go to dinner with him. I said no. He went on to bring up the communique he has received from the hospital so far, which hasn't included any bills y...