My (deep breath here) mother-in-law (hereafter referred to as "Wicked Witch" or "WW") hosted a baby shower for a family friend several weeks ago. I attended because I had committed to do so and because I am very fond of this friend.
When I arrived at the shower at her home, WW hugged me and asked again and again how I was doing. The shower was awkward, as you can probably imagine. As I was making my exit (early, of course), WW told me to call her. She emphatically said that I should call her. She also said she wanted us to have dinner sometime soon.
I waited a couple days to call, and she was rather breezy during our conversation. We made small talk, and then she finally told me that she was heartbroken and shocked over this. I let her know that no one was more shocked than I. She said that she and my stepfather-in-law were trying to not interfere and not talk to my H about the situation.
She then repeated several times, "I hope that you two will keep talking. I just hope that you'll keep talking." I said, "What do you mean? Like now or when we're done?" She repeated the same thing again without answering my questions. I did not make any solid dinner plans with her when we concluded our conversation (for many different reasons).
After my first revealing conversation with H more than a week ago, WW's words came back to me. She was giving me a clue that I didn't even see at the time! She knew that he and I had not talked much up to that point since the separation, and until I changed my methods, I continued to go down that road for a while longer. She was, in her way, letting me know something I needed to do.
Now I just have to decide if I want to make that dinner date with her. I'm torn about if I should, but she suggested it. If I can interpret all her subtleties, it may be worth my time!
And for the record--I didn't come up with the "WW" for her. She calls herself that! She also signs all her e-mails and cards to my sister-in-law and me like that.
