I MARRIED A FEMINIST

It didn't happen overnight. We got pregnant by accident.

     " I'll be alright, " she said over the phone, " as long as you stand by me."
      I'm a man from the old school, the last century, born in 1940, John Wayne, Steven Canyon,voluntarily enlist in the service, you know, stand up and do the right thing.
      So, I did. I married the little lady and set down to make a life with her. Our child came along, a beautiful lovely little red-headed girl with an IQ, BTW that was extraordinary. ( got it from...).
      My wife was a sewer. Made everything by hand: sweaters, gloves, all baby clothes, she loved doing it, I loved her doing it. Breast fed our little girl in magical moments I'll never forget.
      Flash forward to two girls, early teen age years, wife is home doing Mom things, wifely things, now BORED to death. Too much Betty Freidan, I guess. Love that Ms. subscription.
     Now things around the house are never good enough. Arguments over money, who/what/where kids go,do,how often - ALL THE TIME.
      One day, she springs the following on me without any advance notice: " I'm tired of being Mrs nobody. I'm not fulfilled. I'm going to get a job. Being a housewife and mother doesn't satisfy me anymore. I want you to know I'm actively looking for outside work."
      Thunderstruck, I babbled something like, " can we at least talk about this?"
      " Sure, talk. But, I'm doing it." (so much for negotiations)

       Our children were too small to be left alone after school, so they became latch-key kids. Me? I was off running the 7th largest mall on the globe, 10 hours or more a day. She? Blowing a whistle in a school yard, chasing 3rd graders away from water fountains.
       " I've got to be me," she said.
       As John Wayne used to say, " conversation sort of dried up."That was the last century, and, the last time I'll ever let anyone decide my future. As Doctor Phil says, it's better to be FROM an unhappy marriage than IN one. I wasted 18 and 1/2 years of my life. I should have gone to law school, or journalism, or stayed in the Air Force and retired there. What a waste.
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