Moving On

She broke her engagement.

"I pulled the band aid off."

She wants marriage and children and a family like the one she still cherishes, her parents and her brother, loving and concerned and moving in the same direction.

The fiancé seemed less interested in them and more interested in his own road.

She looked for a long time, and was so glad when she thought she'd found him.  But, she's neither stupid nor unaware, and she could recognize the incongruities and so she's sending back the ring.

She feels better than she has in a long time.
*****
She decided where to send her daughter to high school.

Yes, the daughter had an opinion.  That opinion made the decision an issue.

She struggled to define her reactions, to consider the options, to investigate her reasoning.  She loves her child, respects her style, admires her tremendously and knows where the power lies -- with the grown up.

She did what she knows is best, what her daughter, reluctantly but not altogether unpleasantly, agrees is best, what her relaxed demeanor demonstrates really is the best.
*****
The court date is set.  The issues are laid out. There's nothing to do but wait.

Dad showed up at the piano recital, his eyes glancing at her and then jumping away, as if burned.  There were no words exchanged.  There wasn't a handshake or a smile... and don't think the kids didn't notice.  It wasn't hostile or awkward as much as it was vacant, empty of emotion.

The court will decide who is right and who is wrong.  It is out of their hands and so they sit, powerless to move on, and they wait.

They'll both be glad when it's over.
*****