Hey mom, it’s me. So – have you recuperated from the Christmas madness yet? God, I can’t believe how fast the holidays flew by! The lasagna was great the next day, by the way.
Yeah, you and me both! At least five pounds. Hey – do you have a minute? I kind of need to talk.
No, no. Nothing bad. Well, I don’t know – it’s not good, I guess. Mom… Orangehat and I… we’re going through a trial separation.
No! We’re not getting divorced. It’s a separation – that’s all. We’ll still see each other, but we’re going to be taking different trains for a while, just until we can figure some things out.
Mom – he’s not cheating on me. It’s not that sim-
Yeah, they were going great, but things change. People change. I really did a lot of soul searching during my week with Seattle. Maybe it sounds cliché, but I felt more alive in those few days than I have in years. I’m just not sure that Orangehat and I are meant to be together. I just… did you always know dad was the one for you?
I mean, I thought I felt that way about him, but then when I met Seattle, one thing led to anoth-

I wasn’t going to. Mom – I’m just trying to explain what’s going on. I wasn’t going to give you the intimate details – geez!
You’ve never even been to Seattle. How can you say it’s a mistake?!
You’re not going to tell her anything, that’s what! Why would you tell Grandma? Mom – I said it’s just a trial separation. What’s the point of getting the whole family riled up when we’re trying to work things out?!
I don’t know why you’re getting so upset – it’s not like you ever made any effort to get to know Orangehat. You always treated him like a total stranger anyway.
Name one time!
Whatever.
We haven’t. I’ve thought about it, but I don’t know if Orangehat would go. He’s not really into all that touchy feely share your emotions in front of a stranger kind of thing. It’s not exactly my idea of fun either, but I’m willing to try.
Believe me, you don’t need to remind me. Don’t you think I had dreams of a house full of little Orangecaps running around, too? But that’s not going to save our marriage. We have to figure out whether or not our relationship can last before we can even consider bringing a child into the mix.
Well, things are different than when you and dad were young-
Yes, I do take marriage seriously, but I’m not going to stay in a relationship that makes me unhappy, when there might be someone else out there who’s perfect for me.
Mom, I can’t do this right now. I gotta go. Just tell dad, will you?
Okay, yeah.
I will.
Love you, too.
Bye.

Filed under: Orangehat Chronicles on January 3rd, 2005