In Reality…

I was getting used to the idea of divorce. The thought of having my own space and time was quite appealing. I was looking forward to being more of myself. I was planning to write more and the sense of being able to sustain an idea and follow the threads to conclusion was attractive. Writing would be my therapy.

In reality, however, divorce means the end of family. For seven years I have been with my little men morning and night; we’re a team. Last night, my five YO son asked me:
”Will you get a house right next to us, daddy, so we will still see you always?” My wife has obviously told the boys that we're breaking up as a family.

Reality crashed in. It was like a hand reached into my chest and gripped my heart. Like a gangster in a film explaining what will happen if the good guy doesn’t pay up.

How does someone do that; develop something as close and integral as a family unit and then just rip it apart because they don’t like being married? Is there no conscience? No consideration of what the children think? It’s almost like I am living the sequel to Trouble With Girls. I think the tragic irony of Billy Hanson ending up alone as a weekend dad will make a better story than the original happy ending of Billy and the boys living a scene from ‘It’s a Wonderful life’. It was too simplistic, too Hollywood. The sequel will be better as a tragedy, or at least a tragi-comedy.

But I don’t necessarily want to be myself. Billy Hanson had a lot of fun but DaddyJ was who I had become, who I wanted to be. The sequel might be better as a tragedy, but in reality, I wanted a happy ending.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Trouble-W...