That's where I guess I lost my DB cool. I said "I'm not interested in sitting down and discussing anything with your attorney. If you have an attorney, I guess I will need to get one also. You know I love you and always will, and I will always treat you cordially and with respect especially around the kids, but if we get divorced, we will not be friends. Friends don't do this to each other."
I'll leave the God-stuff to you and sandi and the other remarkable people of faith here, song; as you know, that's not My Way.
In terms of your last engagement with WAW -- as my Chicano friends would say, "Machin, carnal!" Excellent, bro!
That was solid, man. You laid it down clean. Here is what I will do; here is what I won't do; here is where I stand.
Don't despair, song (he said, having himself despaired). That's not blowing it, not by any stretch of the imagination.
Think about it strictly from a negotiating standpoint; there's plenty of room for negotiation (of all sorts of things, including the R) in what you said. For example, there's a long, long road between Stranger and Friend -- a lot of relationships in between there. Fishing buds, drinking buds, DB buds, co-parents, lovers, friends, friends with benefits....an infinity of inter-personal dynamics.
And what you said was, "I'm not closed off to engaging you as a person. I'm not denying your motherhood or your importance to our kids or your place in my life and my heart. What I'm telling you is that, whatever ELSE happens, it will be as much on MY terms as on YOURS."
And that's a good thing, methinks -- strong, solid, clear and unambiguous. It signals that you have a stake in things, too, now and after.
So buck up me bruvva! That seems like a success to me.
