The Beginning of The End

It was a morning like any other, a Monday in February, the 9th of 2009 to be exact. I was going through my usual routine of primping and prepping, readying myself for the day. I was in the middle of brushing my teeth when I suddenly stopped. I had this overwhelming feeling that it was time. The moment had come. My friend, Claire, said that when the time was right I would just know. That was exactly what happened. I couldn't wait any longer I had to do it now! Today was the day. I had had enough. I rinsed, spit, put down my toothbrush and headed for the family room. There he was, Dick, my husband of almost 25 years. He sat on the couch watching TV, blissfully unaware that life as he knew it was about to come to a screeching halt. "Hi" he said in a monotone that sounded like he couldn't be more disinterested that I had entered the room. It was his standard morning greeting now. Somewhere along the way he stopped saying "good morning" and took to just saying "Hi." And that, was just what I needed to push me to do what I knew I had to. "I want a divorce!" I announced. Oh my God, I thought, I said it, no turning back now. I forged ahead, full steam. "I can't do this anymore. I won't live like this anymore....I...am..done!" His response was something like"Huh?....Wha???" , which he punctuated with blank stupid look on his face. Hmm, I thought, I guess I have to clarify, so I asked him "Haven't you noticed that things have been a little, oh, I don't know...odd between us lately?" He shrugged and answered, "Well, no more so than they have been for a while." Every word out of his mouth just fueled me onward. "My point exactly!" I said, "I've had enough!" Being as quick witted as he is he said..."Oh."..nothing else, just, oh. I could see this conversation, as momentous as it should have been, was going to be no different than any other conversation we'd had over the last year. So, as I turned to leave for work I left him with one last comment. "I just thought you should know....be...ready!" And with that I went downstairs . I thought he would come after me. He had time to. I didn't leave right away, I had to put on my shoes and gather my things for work, and I didn't rush doing it either. I gave him the time and opportunity to do something, say something, but there was nothing. I heard him walking around, but he never came after me. He just let me walk out of the house and our life together without another word. So, I did the only thing I could do...I went to work. After work I drove to my lawyer's office to drop off a retainer check and give him the green light to go ahead and file the divorce complaint. And that as they say, is that.