The Long and Winding Road

36 Marbles  
 
    Spending some time with Ex-man over the holidays has got me thinking about our relationship again.  I fell in love with him when I was fifteen when he was playing the piano and singing “The Long and Winding Road.”  I didn’t know then that the road would be so long and so windy and would include interim marriages, breakups, finding each other again.  Little did I know that the road would eventually lead to a dead end.
    Does anyone ever enter a relationship thinking that it will one day be over? Sure, there are some people who plan for the worst and get their prenuptials in order in case the relationship goes south. Perhaps those are the realists who look at the divorce stats that estimate that the lifelong probability of a marriage ending in divorce is 40-50%. But many people enter relationships optimistically, with the idea that the way they feel about their partner is the way they will always feel. But life is about change: life experiences can alter us, life circumstances can change us, or we can just grow apart. Love isn’t always elastic enough to adjust to change. And sometimes, no matter how hard we try, relationships are not meant to be “till death do us part.”
    If I had known then what I know now, would I have let the young Ex-man be and taken the cue from his second song that night on the piano – “Let it Be”?  Chances are not.  Every detour has led me to where I am now and despite the fact that I can’t see right now where my road is taking me, I have three great traveling mates in my kids, two of whom wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t taken that particular long and windy road.

Would you have taken that road with your ex if you knew then what you know now? What are the positive outcomes of the relationship?