The Past is Always Present

Everything Changes

by

Matthew T. Lipson

1.2 The Past is Always Present

A short time after she asked me for a divorce, my wife was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  This took us both by surprise.  Even after having children this was a lesson neither of us had learned.  Unknown to me, but not her friends, she had been having increasing mobility issues for a few weeks.  So, when her primary care physician scheduled her for an MRI, I did not take it as seriously as I probably should have.  In the wake of having been asked for a divorce, I really wasn't caring much about what she had to say, anyway.  The diagnosis changed that.  I insisted on going with her to the Neuroligist visits, which she eventually started to hide from me.  In the beginning it was a rallying call giving the illusion that we could mend fences and find what we had meant to each other.  I think, though, both of us knew the diagnosis couldn't hide the deeper damage.  The change on the horizon was getting closer and more inevitable.