Sunday 29 March 2009

Sunday Scribblings, "Aging"


Elizabeth

Tree spirit.
G'Day,
I have just had the best three days I have had for a long time. On Friday night Peter and I went to a concert to see Russel Morris and Brian Cadd. Two great old Aussie rockers from the seventies. Russel used to have thin, straight , long blond hair which has been replaced by...none. He is completely bald headed. Brian always had a head full of silky light brown hair with a beard to match, his hair and beard now days is pure white, but still long and silky. So, as you could imagine, amongst a crowd of similar aged people to myself, there were lots of hair jokes, and age jokes. These guys faces and bodies are ageing but all of their talent is still there. Well ... I thought we both had a wonderful time.
I spent this Saturday and Sunday with the Potter's club in Wagga at a 2 day workshop tutored by a Beechworth potter Judy Pierce. I haven't made sculpted faces before. Everybody made their own style of things. I made my Elizabeth bust and also a second one. I had the idea of one of those giant red river gums that you see by the river which are hundreds of years old. I made a tree but with a spirit mask enclosed within its branches. They just have to survive the drying firing and transporting processes first.
I also had lunch on Saturday with a couple of girlfriends and went out for tea with the potters after the Saturday part of the workshop.
I had a sense of forboding all the way home tonight coming back here and finding out..... Even though I thought we were going to be o.k.
I just came home and got a phone call from Peter and I asked him if he had been in contact with Sharon, the woman we have had this crisis in our marriage over, and he told me no but that he was expecting her to call him for his birthday tomorrow. I said well you better make up your mind because I will not wait around and asked if he was sure what he wanted to do and he said "I don't know, I am 99 percent sure but I don't know". So now I am back in the pit again. Oh Fuck!
Talking to people over the weekend who have been through this ordeal has convinced me that I am not just being paranoid and am justified to feel the way I do about this situation. They have in fact been surprised that I have come back at all after hearing our story.
Is this bastard trying to convince me to leave so he has an easy way out?
Maybe. Probably. It is sure looking like that.
I can't believe that I have been so encouraging to him, using my body and my heart to win him, the way I have been for the last week and trying so bloody hard to overcome my pain and in the process sacrificing more of myself and my dignity.
So dears!
To tie this in with the prompt.
Yep aging.
That is when you have a husband going through a big mid life crisis who may or may not choose to stay with you after you have given him your whole life, for the taste of a younger woman, who has already proven that she is an unfaithful lover to others. If he goes to her, she will very shortly be doing the same thing to him as he is doing to me right now. Poetic justice for the bastard.
I am angry and stressed and broken all over again, I don't know if I am strong enough to leave for good, although I know that I should, and it is the right thing to do right now, as so many women before me have chosen to do in my situation. I am so scared of what my future will bring. I want a crystal ball to tell me what to do. I am so scared.
I know a factor in this is that she has found a lump in her breast and is told it is cancer. Peter's twin sister died of breast cancer when she was just 28 leaving 3 small children behind. He has always had big issues with cancer and is terrified of getting it himself. He has spent the past 20 years working voluntarily with a charity who raises money for its victim's treatment. Her birthday is the day after his, giving Sharon and he the twin link, and I am sure that he associates her with his sister whom he has never gotten over losing. His other sister Maureen said the same thing to me when I last spoke to her on the phone a few days ago.
I am sitting up again tonight. I went to bed a few hours ago but could not sleep. I am trying to keep busy in here.
Love Linda.

9 comments:

anthonynorth said...

Yes, keep busy - the best way through these things.

Tumblewords: said...

I love the pottery you're making! Sounds like the workshop was incredibly fine. Leaving is never easy, the future never guaranteed - whether you stay or not. Busy is a good thing! Good luck!

Tammy Brierly said...

Your pottery is wonderful!

I will send strength vibes your way and I am sorry you are in this tough spot. HUG

Sherri B. said...

I'm sorry you're being faced with such incredibly tough challenges right now...

Lucy said...

oh Linda, my heart aches for what you are going through. I hear such similar stories from many of my female clients and Knowing WhAt is the right choice now, is just so so difficult.
Wishing you the courage and strength you need to find your way through this. Sending u hugs

(when I first began your post I was smiling because 1.my husband is also Peter and 2. We also went to a 70's concert this weekend and 3. We also were observing all the middle aged people who were fat, puffy and bald!)

Jay said...

Gosh, what a very difficult time for you.

This line is just so true:

"If he goes to her, she will very shortly be doing the same thing to him as he is doing to me right now"

I can't believe how blind people can be to this truth. I watched my serial-adulterer BIL do this over and over again during his lifetime. Each time he married, it lasted a shorter time before he strayed.

I love your pottery. You are clearly a strong woman, and will get through this, though not without damage. I only have one thing to say which may possibly help. There was a time when I felt my husband was trying to force me to end our marriage, and I took my courage in my hands and told him 'I will not leave you. If you want a split, you will have to leave me'. This seemed to be the turning point for recovery, for us. Cards on the table, and all that, I suppose.

I wish you luck and strength.

Miss Robyn said...

Linda, I am finally catching up with blogs.. and I am sorry to read that this is happening again.
No one but you can make the break.. it is a damn tough thing to do, I know as I had to do it many years ago when my ex did the same as you.. it broke my heart and nearly my spirit too.. but I did it and I haven;t looked back. The time will come when you will wake up oneday and say enough is enough and let me tell you HE will be sorry in the end. This is a fling, he is not in love with her at all, if he was, he wouldn't be umming and arring over it.. anyhow, that is my opinion.
You are stronger than you think, don't let either of them make you think that you are insane or any thing else but a strong woman.
hang in there.

oh & Love the pottery !! do this to keep you focused xoxo

Sorrow said...

Hey Linda,
I am glad to see/read that you got a little Art therapy in for yourself. As always yor pieces are so lovely!
I am sorry that things are not smooth or even becoming smooth with your husband.
men can be worse than children, You just take care of you!
okay!
sending ((((((HUGS))))))))

Annie Jeffries said...

I find the contrast of styles you present here interesting. One is so serene and calm, the other gnarled and tangled. Given what you have written, it could almost be a sort of self-portrait. Aging can be a messy business and I wish you strength and self-determination no matter which road you follow.