A Civil Action Has Been Commenced Against You...

That is basically what my lawyer told K.  After all the years.  After all the laughter.  After all the pain.  After all the ups and downs.  After all we have been through, our marriage has been reduced to this. "A Civil Action Has Been Commenced Against You..."


Rather than be served by the sheriff, K chose to go to the lawyers office and pick up the papers herself.  On Tuesday, they were submitted and filed with the court.  Today they came back from the court with a very impersonal cover sheet.  I didn't really feel the sense of loss that many men in my situation talk about, but I did regret it was such a sterile process.  I was imagining a situation that was not as friendly as ours and a straight wife getting these papers in the mail.  Talk about re-opening an old wound.


But our situation is not like that.  K called me complaining she did not really know where the lawyer's office was and she did not have time to look it up. I offered to go with her.  How many soon to be ex-husbands do that???


We showed up at the lawyer's office.  The attorney was not there, his legal assistant had the papers we needed.  K pick up her copy of my divorce complaint.  Then we turned the distribution of property agreement that we both signed and got notarized.  Just like the lawyer, the assistant was just as surprised to see me and K in the office together, not fighting ...even being friendly.


As we drove away from the office, I found us laughing together about something the kids had said in the back seat.  At first I was a little sad that our situation ended up the way it did.  Then after thinking about it.  We had a pretty good run and our relationship is not over, just changed.