Just found out that OW has a kid!!

[Ophelia]

I'm short on time at the moment, so will post a better reply to you all a bit later, but just wanted to comment on this:

is there anyone in the family you're close to who could be your ally?

Yeah, my MIL....kind of ironic, huh? The weekend after H told me ever so casually in that email that he was seeing someone new, I ended up calling his parents place, trying to track him down, (he lives there, at least I assume he still does), and of course didn't get to speak to him but did get to speak to MIL. Of course I was a mess, and very angry, and she didn't divulge any info but agreed with me that H should speak to me about it, and even said she'd talk to him about it and suggest that we go back to our counsellor to discuss it there.

It was Mothers Day not too long ago, and I gave her a card and a present. It usually takes me forever to pick a card for someone, but this time, the first one I picked up had a pic of a crying kid on the front with the caption, "I won't, I won't, I won't!" and on the inside it said, "I won't stop loving you, EVER!" It was perfect, and she loved it.

Father's Day is coming up soon, and I fully intend to get something for my FIL.

I'm sure that it would have been MIL who suggested to H that he speak with OW in the first place. Not that she had any sinister motives, but because her son was upset and she thought it'd be good for him to speak to someone who had been through it before. No way she could have known what she was setting up.

I used to see my ILs once a week. I'd go over and help MIL in her garden for several hours, then I'd sit around with both ILs, knocking back a couple glasses of wine while we waited for H to show up and then we'd all have dinner together. Usually a roast, but sometimes one of MIL's homemade pizzas, or we'd all share in a massive seafood platter with fresh crab and prawns. I miss that SO MUCH, and the thought of OW (and her son) taking my place at those dinners infuriates me to no end.

I only see my IL's once every month or so these days, and they've never acted like they want to cut me off. They went away several months ago, and we were gonna go to a resturaunt for lunch after they got back so they could tell me all about it. MIL was a bit under the weather, but instead of cancelling on me, she suggested they just come to my place, so we sat around and they showed me all of their holiday photos. It was wonderful!

So the moral of my long and drawn out reply, (which was only meant to be brief until I ended up rambling) is that MIL is kinda like my one real ally in that family, but at the same time, she's good friends with OW's mother. From memory, my ILs actually went to OW's wedding back in the day.

So twisted!