Stains

Hi!

No, sorry, you go first.

OK… my name is Selena. Well, no, it’s Gretchen, but I think Selena is so much more interesting, don’t you?

What? Oh, I think John is a fine name. Do you know Tanya?

Our host, Tanya. Do you know her?

No, I don’t know who Phil is, but I’m glad he brought you. I’ve known Tanya for years. Our kids were in a playgroup together.

My kids? They were… are 12 and 15. Rambunctious, but what kids aren’t, right? Teenagers – boy! Just can’t be warned enough.


My what? Oh, my wedding ring. Yeah, uhm… I’m recently unmarried. He’s dead, my husband.

Yes, thank you. No, it was quite sudden.

Oh, I’m doing well, I mean, fine with it. Life, who can predict, right?

No, I know. I thought I would go to college, get married, have kids and have a job. It’s funny how much a college degree doesn’t matter once you have kids. Like using it for your own betterment is some kind of… selfish act.

I’m sorry, what?

Heart attack? Well, uh, yessss; a heart attack. That’s what he had. His heart just stopped. Suddenly.

Work? Oh yes, he was ALWAYS stressed out from work. He would come home in these moods… always complaining. Nothing at home was ever good enough… just never, never satisfied. Do you ever get like that?

Oh sure, who hasn’t had the bad day occasionally? Ha! Just today, I couldn’t decide where to move my couch.

Because my carpet is, well, a mess. Stains. You know what it’s like with teenagers. They stain everything. So it was throw the carpet out or move the couch.

My kids? No, they didn’t miss my husband.

Don’t – of course I mean don’t. They don’t miss him. Kids can be so self-absorbed.

Ha, yes, that’s what it’s like, right?

Well, I think I could handle the “world revolving around them” part. I mean, we’ve all been there, right?

Right. No, it was more the fact that they felt so superior to me. Somehow, my sacrifice, my devoting my life to them made them… better than me? Do you know what I mean? Like I’m an idiot because I STAYED HOME to raise my kids. Isn’t that what the books said was best for them?

Sorry… Stay At Home Mother Guilt. Ah, bless them. Where would I be without them? I guess we’ll find out, right?

My kids? They’re camping.

It does seem cold for camping. Kids, right?

Uh, yes, the house is pretty empty with all of them gone. But I can relax some, you know, with all the silence in the house.

I do try to focus on the positive.

I have no idea what the kids focused on. They never lowered themselves enough to tell their poor, simple mother anything. Ugh! The mouths on those kids! And, of course, husband blamed me… it was always me… my fault, my responsibility, my problem. Yeah, I’ll solve my own problems, you bet I will…

What? Oh sure, no, yes – get some punch before it’s all gone. Lovely chatting with you.

I seem to have a lot more free time these days.

Call me if you feel like coffee or something.