Divorcing my first husband — my family was totally against it ("what will we tell people?") and I got absolutely no support, emotional or otherwise from them.  I had been miserable for ten years, and I couldn’t deal with it any more.  I had to find a job and learn to take care of myself and my two kids (5 and 9).  This was in 1968, just before the divorce boom.  I had a number of rough years, but put myself through graduate school, got an MBA and climbed up the corporate ladder.

It took a lot of courage for me to do this.  "Friends" told me I was crazy.  We were financially comfortable and I had to give that up and fend for myself.  I’ve never been sorry, and I’m much happier today.  I have a wonderful, loving husband and a good life.

Yes, and I married him.  Biggest mistake of my life!

"I have not given up on wanting that passion and high-end romance; I just don’t want it to be at the expense of another woman."

It seems as though the expense was hers.

I think that any woman who gets involved with a married man deserves  what she gets.  Even if he leaves his wife for her, how can she trust him?  If he cheated on his wife, he’ll cheat on you.

 

My husband got sick while we driving through Provence. Our Auberge-keeper called a doctor, who came over almost immediately — at 7 in the morning.  The doctor was a young woman, still in her twenties.  She prescribed three medications, which I had filled at the local pharmacy.  The cost — $10 euros for the doctor and $18 euros total for the medications.  And my husband recovered very quickly.

After more than fifty years of cooking, I’m just plain tired of it.  When I was younger, I had all sorts of interesting recipes, but that was before they invented cholesterol.  Now I use a lot of take-out.

My husband and I also eat out a couple of times a week.  It’s his way of sharing in the meal preparation responsibilities.

I find getting my nails done is a chore, but I enjoy going to the hairdresser’s.  I have the shampoo in a massage chair, then my hairdresser, who is the only man who has ever understood my hair, makes me look beautiful.  I’ve been going to him for almost twenty years, and we’ve been through a lot together — marriages, divorces, his drug problems — now we’re both in very happy marriages and he’s clean.

I started highlighting my hair about twenty-five years ago, and as the grey has increased, so has the blonde.  I’m almost totally blonde now, which makes me feel great.

As my very vain mother told me  — if I don’t take care of myself, who will?

 

I have two beautiful granddaughters.  I love them dearly, but I never, ever talk about them to other people.  Why?  Because I really don’t think people are interested in my grandchildren.  I’m not interested in theirs, so why should they be interested in mine?  I don’t carry around their pictures, either.  And when people shove their grandkids’ photos in my face, I take a quick glance and hand them back.

I don’t know why people are so obsessed with their grandchildren.  Don’t they have anything better to talk about?  There are millions of wonderful things in the world that are far more interesting.

When I married my first husband in 1958, I took his last name because I thought it was a legal requirement.  When we divorced ten years later, I was surprised to learn that it was only required in Hawaii — no other state actually did require it.  It was just a prevailing custom.  I took back my own name and have always kept it.  I’m married again, but I never took my second husband’s name.

I have two sons, who have their father’s name.  But their wives have kept their own names, too.  I always say that we’re a modern family — we all have different names.

Even though I did use my first husband’s name, I never liked the idea of a woman having to change her name to his, even when I was a kid.  This was before the Woman’s Movement, but I guess I was always a Feminist.

 

I wanted to go to Machu Picchu since the first time I saw a picture of it— probably around 1975.  I finally made the trip last October, and it was everything I expected, and even more!  I climbed up to the the Gate of the Sun with a group of others.  I was 73, and it was the most exhiliarating (and tiring) thing I’ve ever done.  But the feeling of joy when I made it was indescribable!

I toured Peru with a wonderful group of people with Overseas Adventure Travel.  Most of them were married, and I went alone, as my husband cannot travel any more, but we all bonded beautifully.  We saw the sites Myrna mentioned, plus many others.  Peru is a fascinating country.  One of the highlights of the trip was rafting down the Orubamba River.  You’re surrounded by the most spectacular scenery imaginable.

 

 

I was just about to post the same thing, when I read your message.  And, as we all know, Mother is always right.

I wonder how the women who married for money, and spent their lives living with men they barely tolerated because of the material comforts they provided, feel when their husbands lost everything, because of such things as bank failures and the general economic downturn, etc.  They gave up their lives and now have nothing, and are stuck with these creeps.   I don’t feel at all sorry for them, though.

I don’t feel even remotely sorry for her.  She didn’t think about the people she and her family robbed while she was ostentatiously spending their life savings.  I hope they take every nickel away from her and relegate her to working as a cashier in Wal-Mart and living in "affordable housing."

The most wonderful trip I ever took was driving through Provence for three weeks with my husband.  I’d love to go back, but his health won’t allow him to travel any more, and I wouldn’t want to go alone.

Last year I went to Peru and Machu Picchu on a group trip, and enjoyed it very much.  This Fall, I’m planning to go to Vietnam and Cambodia with the same group (Overseas Adventure Travel).  They’re small groups and I felt comfortable going alone.

Other places on my list are Greece, Turkey and Tuscany.  Maybe Rome.  I’ve been to Venice and don’t want to repeat anything.  There are too many places I haven’t been.

I’d also like to see parts of the US I haven’t seen — I’ve been to a number of national parks in the New Mexico, Arizona and Utah area.  I’d love to see Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. 

 

I’ve had two operations for TMJ — one on each side.  I wear a night guard, but I find myself clenching my teeth quite often during the day.  When I’m really stressed out, I get anxiety attacks — I’ve had them for many years.  It’s a terrible tightness in my chest, which sometimes can be painful.  The stress is usually work-related.  When I worked for corporations, I was always afraid of losing my job.  Now that I’m self-employed, I worry about losing clients, or not getting the work done on time.  This year, I’ve been President of a Community Light Opera group.  The pressure has been overwhelming, and I’m resigning at the end of my first year, even though I was elected for a two-year term.  It’s a huge responsibility, and much more than I can handle.

The only TV show I watch is Keith Olbermann.