Thanks for linking. I never married my D's Father, and we split when she was 3 yrs old. But I can relate very much to the things this woman talks about. The awkward holidays, and in fact almost all of it I can say I can understand. We were not in love and were not married. Yet I regret that my D hasn't had the same stable home experience that I was raised with. I feel badly that she has missed out on having both parents close at hand on a regular basis. It feels like a failure and a disappointment. Whenever you make someone "family" and then cut them out, I don't think you can walk away free and clear of the ties and bonds that were formed. This was an interesting read, I think it could provoke some melancoly moods around these parts. I have no kids w/ my xh and have no desire to see or hear from him ever again. I've not hit the 7 yr mark yet, but can't imagine it would matter. We are split pretty cleanly and I even gave up friends that preferred to keep his company. We share nothing in common so I can't imagine having those feelings over the D. So it's not necessarily a blanket statement that everyone should expect this experience. I think if you share children, then yes you may be more inclined to feel some level of regret. No hijack intended, just followed the link out of curiosity and wanted to add my comments about it.
