Yesterday I was jawing with my next door neighbor, Larry. We were simply shooting the breeze about nothing of any import. Out of the blue, he said, "Oh, by the way, my wife and I have decided to get a divorce. I've already purchased a home across town."
Needless to say, I was speechless (as hard as that might be to believe).
Over the past 3 years as their neighbors, I've never witnessed this couple argue or even share a cross word. I've watched them work together in the yard numerous times and all appeared hunky dory. I see them going places together all the time. Neither my wife (who, admittedly, is far more observant of other people than I am) nor I had the slightest inkling that there was any tension between the two.
All this proves to me is that you never really know about the lives of others. Appearances can be so deceiving. What may look like a friendly neighbor[s] may turn out to be a dysfunctional couple, a pedophile or a serial killer!
I know that when my first wife and I decided to end our marriage, most of our cohorts were shocked. We seemed like the ever happy little couple. It's not that we were putting on airs for public consumption; it was more that each of us was very unhappy with the core of the relationship. To the very end, we got along very well on one level, but, on a deeper level, we both came to the painful conclusion that we were not compatible.
Upon learning that Ann and I would divorce, one of my good friends said to me, "Gosh, you never really know..."
Needless to say, I was speechless (as hard as that might be to believe).
Over the past 3 years as their neighbors, I've never witnessed this couple argue or even share a cross word. I've watched them work together in the yard numerous times and all appeared hunky dory. I see them going places together all the time. Neither my wife (who, admittedly, is far more observant of other people than I am) nor I had the slightest inkling that there was any tension between the two.
All this proves to me is that you never really know about the lives of others. Appearances can be so deceiving. What may look like a friendly neighbor[s] may turn out to be a dysfunctional couple, a pedophile or a serial killer!
I know that when my first wife and I decided to end our marriage, most of our cohorts were shocked. We seemed like the ever happy little couple. It's not that we were putting on airs for public consumption; it was more that each of us was very unhappy with the core of the relationship. To the very end, we got along very well on one level, but, on a deeper level, we both came to the painful conclusion that we were not compatible.
Upon learning that Ann and I would divorce, one of my good friends said to me, "Gosh, you never really know..."
Trey,
ReplyDeleteVery true. We "think" we know people but we don't. I still have the capacity to be shocked (like you with your neighbor)
Bruce