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• Sunday, December 23, 2007 03:03 AM

  Thank you Cary!

  Your letter wasn't intended to make me feel better, but it did. You see, I was the man in a similar scenario a few years ago. The details were a little different; I was still "technically married ;-)" and my partner wasn't. My daughter required my attention in the week spanning Christmas and New Years. I don't want to make it sound like it was an unwelcome obligation for me to see my daughter, for I wanted to. But the fact is there was something going on in her life at that moment, and she needed my help. Unlike the man in this story, I did think about my partner, did discuss it with her, and decided that it was best that she did not accompany me. My daughter was at the time, still struggling with my impending divorce, and it would have been damaging to our father/daughter relationship to bring my companion on the trip. I did discuss it with my companion and told her that while I would love it if she could come, it wasn't the best thing at that time, so I wanted to go alone. I did. My companion (who was the real love of my life) was hurt and told me that it made her feel like a second class citizen, and less important to me than my daughter. I understood how she felt. I love them both, but the well-being of my daughter took precedence for me in this case. It was not the end of our relationship. That came several months later for other reasons, but it was a blow to us from which we never fully recovered. I know that I made the right choice, but I've regretted it all the same. You made me feel better. So Thanks.

  —Demotage Read Demotage's other letters
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