Truth And Consequences---Phil's Reply to Janet
My apologies to capecodmercury. I tried, over, and over to contact him about adding to his great story, but was never able to. I loved the story "Truth and Consequences." There was no reply from Phil to this letter, and I just kept wondering what he would have said back to her. I realize that there is any number of forms his letter could have taken. For better, or for worse, this is just one of them. It is surely advisable to first read "Truth and Consequences" by capecodmercury, then read Phil's reply to his wife's letter to him.
Dear Janet,
If you are reading this letter, then I know you have received the divorce decree that was in the big envelope with it.
I will try now, as best I can, to explain my actions, and feelings that have caused me to give up completely on trying to save the bond between you and I. I am more sorry, disheartened, and depressed about this than you can possible imagine. I can't fathom living my life without you, and at times, I feel that I don't want to go on at all with my life. Losing you is like I have been split in half, and half of myself has been relegated to the land fill. I can hardly function, as I am so used to you being my right hand in work, in decisions, and a dozen other departments. Now that is all missing.
When I first started reading your letter, and all the way to about 2/3 of the way through it, my heart was lifted to heights that it had not seen, since the day I first began to suspect your infidelity to me, and our wedding vows. I thought "Well finally, she
is beginning to see what I have been trying with all my heart to get her to see all this time, for the last year." Even though you said at the outset that you were at least temporarily moving out, I knew that under the right circumstances, that you would fly back to my side, and I envisioned our marriage back on the track that I have been trying, and hoping that we could put it on for so long. As I was swamped with work because of a new contract we are desperately trying to gain, I didn't have the time to read but little parts of your letter at a time. It took me the better part of 4 days to finally wade all the way through it. During most of that time, I was deliriously happy, thinking of once again, holding you in my arms, and being able to feel that you finally understood the gargantuan enormity of the hurt, and humiliation that you piled on me, thinking me a fool, that was too slow to ever catch on to two quick witted people like you and your lover were. With me knowing from the very first day what was going on, and being able to absolutely see through all the many lies that you kept telling me, because I had the proof, it wasn't hard to figure out that you, even though you felt pangs of guilt over the emails, figured that I would never be quick enough to trap you in your lies.
Reading the first large part of your letter seemed to say to me that you had changed your opinion of me, and decided that I was worth being honest with, especially since I had managed to box you in on every single lie you fabricated. I was walking on air, feeling that you had decided I wasn't a fool, or a dummy, but that I was an equal, and deserved to be treated as such. HOW WRONG I WAS!!! From the first year of our marriage, I have been telling you that you learned a vicious trick while at your mother's knee, seeing her bring up things to your Dad during any kind of disagreement they might have, that had nothing whatsoever to do with what they were disagreeing about, but was designed to turn the heat from herself, onto your Dad, even though she might be clearly wrong, and at fault. Winning the argument always seemed to be the paramount goal in her arguments, not getting at the truth of any matter. Your Dad, being the gentle soul that he is, would always defer to her, in order to end the argument, rather than stand up to her. Now, you have tried that same trick on me, but wife, let me assure you, you are not dealing with your Dad now. Throwing up a smoke screen to try to divert my attention from you're guilt and make me think I am at fault will not work with me. Lady, I have people that are a good deal smarter than you, try that with me in the business world every day of my life. It doesn't work for them, and it won't work for you, now, or ever.