Ok, this title seems a little hyperbolic. I’m not literally sitting here wishing anyone would die. Sure, there are plenty of people I feel like the world would be better without, but like Gandalf says : “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends”
If I could snap my fingers and kills someone would I? I like to think I wouldn’t, but having never had that power I don’t know. Also, I can’t snap my fingers, it is a skill that has long eluded me. I stick to clapping.
If I’m not talking about wishing someone would die what am I prattling on about? I guess it’s all about possible communication. Simply put when someone is dead you can’t communicate with them, and therefore over time, you stop wanting to communicate with the deceased. Unless you are goth as fuck.
This past weekend is when this thought occurred to me. I saw a neat country craft sort of art at a donut shop in Dillard GA. It was a set of angel wings made out of the fabric my mother used to use to crochet rag rugs. It made me think of her for a second and then I ate some donuts. Yes, if my mother was alive and knew how to use texts I would have sent her a picture, but she isn’t alive, there is no number to send a text, there is no reality in which she might respond to the text. This means that when I see something my mother would have liked I have the thought “Mom would like this” and that is where the internal conversation ends. No moral quandary or longing, no emo feels.
There are plenty of people who are alive who I don’t think of ever, about 7 billion because I never met them. There are people who used to be in my life who I am super glad to never speak to again, so they aren’t a problem. But then there are people who I shouldn’t interact with and yet I see something, think about them and want to.
This past weekend, as before stated I was in Dillard GA. Of course, I went to the Dillard house (twice, yes, that was too much) this was a favorite restaurant of my ex-husband. I wanted to text him a picture. Later that same day I went to a gas station to get a drink and bought a “Surge” soda and I wanted to text him and say “TANTRUM!” as a reference to a favorite TV show we share. I played a card game that I think he would have loved. I went to a show where a performer I know he likes was playing and if we were friends I would have recorded the song and sent it to him. But we are not friends. It was a messy divorce, and all of the shared experiences and fond memories don’t change that.
I sent him a text here or there the last few months, about books or movies and I offered to hang out a few times. I did this to keep things friendly until I moved but also to see if maybe we could create so sort of friendship going forward because I miss having him in my life. I used to miss my mother, but I don’t anymore. Not even a little, it’s been 10 years since she died. I think of her fondly and not so fondly. She was funny, sometimes kind and sometimes abusive. I loved her very much, but I don’t love her anymore, loving someone or something I can’t ever interact with would be cruel to myself, it would be damaging.
These last few months our interactions have been polite. I told myself that once I moved out of the house we shared that I would stop trying to be friends. I can’t be expending emotional labor on someone who doesn’t want me around. This is all totally logical, but how do I stop wanted to talk to him?
The reality of death + time took away wanting to talk to my mother. It just happened on it’s own. Death makes you deal with shit and move on.
How do I convince my heart that someone is dead when my mind knows they are alive? I have tried pretending that me moving put him in a place where I can’t speak to him, and as a result, I have been putting off important legal and financial things I need to do involving him because this is such a confusing time. I need to talk to my ex about the car title he is supposed to give me, about how to get the car tag, about him removing me from a bank account we shared, about taking him off my phone plan. These things have to happen, they are in my planner, they have time limits. But how do I talk to someone I love about business without inquiring to how he has been, without telling him cool things that are going on in my life? How do I treat him like a stranger I need to do business with and then after the business is done, how do I kill him in my heart?
How do you turn someone you love into a ghost?
Edit: I wrote this last night during the “writing” period of my day, to be posted today. However today during the “high-value tasks” time I emailed him about my car tag and title, to which he replied with threats to sue me because of something else. There really is no future in which he wants to be a positive part of my life, is there?
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