Poor Jack! All work and no play! Why, he got duller and duller. Their living standard was his fault and the media kept putting the bar higher and higher. He was to be unfailingly romantic, able to buy luxuries, fancy holidays and everything his kids wanted. He worked so much he felt his soul become weary. His wife was lost in a sort of toxic daydream, if he couldn't do everything her friends husbands did then did that mean he didn't love her? She wanted valentines and extravagant gifts at birthdays. He smiled along and did his best, he didn't want to lose Jill but where could he recharge his soul? A hockey match? That was good. The pub? A laugh with the boys was great. But Jill was becoming sullen and passive aggressive.
Jill wanted the love she had felt years ago and many of her friends had traded in their boring Jack for a new one, a recycled one. She didn't want to loose her Jack but really, he was annoying her and this other Jack at work was quite handsome. Her Jack didn't appreciate her, why, he often forgot to take the garbage out. Why should she put up with that? Their bedroom life was all but gone and her friends, well, the things they were doing made her so envious! Some of her friends had more than one Jack and didn't even cook them a meal. Well, that sounded way better than this drudgery.
Jack was unhappy, but he knew what divorce meant. It meant some other guy took the girl he fell in love with and raised his kids. Just the thought of it broke him some more but like most men he just buried it deep and got on with the day job he hated to provide the life Jill found so "inadequate." It was killing him. He became anxious and tried harder with Jill but she didn't respond. She had already left him in her mind and was making plans for her "freedom." Jill was going to be an independent woman in a fancy condo, she'd already calculated their net worth and figured she'd be just fine. She was a bit concerned for Jack but "It was his fault. He wasn't romantic or spontaneous, he was so boring." She confided in her friends and they all confirmed that men were hopeless. She'd be "happier on her own."
What could Jack do? He was dying on the inside. Twenty years at a menial job to keep the woman he adored and the kids that he loved more than anything... and for what? To be as disposable as a Tim Hortons Coffee Cup? Tossed in the trash?
Jill wasn't a bad person, really. She loved her kids and was lonely on the inside, just like Jack; but the proof of how much she was loved was there all along but she just missed it. It wasn't any of those things he bought her, they were just trinkets after all, no matter the price tag. Love after all, cannot be bought or bribed. The trinkets were tokens that the media made Jill crave and Jack too scared not to give. That's how love dies and it does it slowly. Then Jack and Jill fall apart, but they never had to. All Jill needed to see is that Jack did a boring job day after day because he loved her and the kids beyond anything in the world. When a man loves a woman he will work in a cubicle farm or assembly line or pushing paper until her is almost dead for her and his kids. If it was just him, he'd be off in a camper trailer to hike the mountains and he'd take his chances. Had she known that she would have never wanted all those expensive things because in reality, until Jack can retire he is a slave, an unhappy one. I know there are Jill's out there doing the same thing, so for this story you can choose to be Jack or Jill, there are Jackie's right? And they know how soul crushing that life is, they know.
Jack wasn't perfect though, he saw the freedom Jill had and was envious. She got to cuddle the kids more and cook. That sounded way better than his lot and then he got home sometimes to no dinner and a messy house! What's up with that? Well, the memo Jack missed was that Jill was such a dedicated mother that she devoted more time to the kids than the house or him. It didn't mean she didn't love him, just that her life was busy too. She was multitasking all day long.
The sad part of the tale is that Jack and Jill didn't make it but they could have. The evidence of their love wasn't in candy or flowers or all night sessions in the bedroom, it was in the little things. It was the little kisses, the quiet "I love you's", the cuddles, the humour, the quiet times in the backyard when no-one had anything interesting to say. They didn't need hobbies in common or scintillating personalities, just to see that the other person demonstrated their love in the real way - "I go to work because I love you, not for money. I cook because I want you to be nourished. I clean because it makes the house nicer for us. I cuddle you because it fills my soul. I am with you forever because life without you would kill me on the inside, you are the best to me and I want no other, no substitute, no upgrade or remodel. You are the one I fell in love with and you will always be enough." They never needed a counsellor, that's just a third person who meddles and pokes. They needed true friends who understood that they should guide Jack back to Jill and Jill back to Jack - because this life is tough and it is Love that will carry you through.
Jill wanted the love she had felt years ago and many of her friends had traded in their boring Jack for a new one, a recycled one. She didn't want to loose her Jack but really, he was annoying her and this other Jack at work was quite handsome. Her Jack didn't appreciate her, why, he often forgot to take the garbage out. Why should she put up with that? Their bedroom life was all but gone and her friends, well, the things they were doing made her so envious! Some of her friends had more than one Jack and didn't even cook them a meal. Well, that sounded way better than this drudgery.
Jack was unhappy, but he knew what divorce meant. It meant some other guy took the girl he fell in love with and raised his kids. Just the thought of it broke him some more but like most men he just buried it deep and got on with the day job he hated to provide the life Jill found so "inadequate." It was killing him. He became anxious and tried harder with Jill but she didn't respond. She had already left him in her mind and was making plans for her "freedom." Jill was going to be an independent woman in a fancy condo, she'd already calculated their net worth and figured she'd be just fine. She was a bit concerned for Jack but "It was his fault. He wasn't romantic or spontaneous, he was so boring." She confided in her friends and they all confirmed that men were hopeless. She'd be "happier on her own."
What could Jack do? He was dying on the inside. Twenty years at a menial job to keep the woman he adored and the kids that he loved more than anything... and for what? To be as disposable as a Tim Hortons Coffee Cup? Tossed in the trash?
Jill wasn't a bad person, really. She loved her kids and was lonely on the inside, just like Jack; but the proof of how much she was loved was there all along but she just missed it. It wasn't any of those things he bought her, they were just trinkets after all, no matter the price tag. Love after all, cannot be bought or bribed. The trinkets were tokens that the media made Jill crave and Jack too scared not to give. That's how love dies and it does it slowly. Then Jack and Jill fall apart, but they never had to. All Jill needed to see is that Jack did a boring job day after day because he loved her and the kids beyond anything in the world. When a man loves a woman he will work in a cubicle farm or assembly line or pushing paper until her is almost dead for her and his kids. If it was just him, he'd be off in a camper trailer to hike the mountains and he'd take his chances. Had she known that she would have never wanted all those expensive things because in reality, until Jack can retire he is a slave, an unhappy one. I know there are Jill's out there doing the same thing, so for this story you can choose to be Jack or Jill, there are Jackie's right? And they know how soul crushing that life is, they know.
Jack wasn't perfect though, he saw the freedom Jill had and was envious. She got to cuddle the kids more and cook. That sounded way better than his lot and then he got home sometimes to no dinner and a messy house! What's up with that? Well, the memo Jack missed was that Jill was such a dedicated mother that she devoted more time to the kids than the house or him. It didn't mean she didn't love him, just that her life was busy too. She was multitasking all day long.
The sad part of the tale is that Jack and Jill didn't make it but they could have. The evidence of their love wasn't in candy or flowers or all night sessions in the bedroom, it was in the little things. It was the little kisses, the quiet "I love you's", the cuddles, the humour, the quiet times in the backyard when no-one had anything interesting to say. They didn't need hobbies in common or scintillating personalities, just to see that the other person demonstrated their love in the real way - "I go to work because I love you, not for money. I cook because I want you to be nourished. I clean because it makes the house nicer for us. I cuddle you because it fills my soul. I am with you forever because life without you would kill me on the inside, you are the best to me and I want no other, no substitute, no upgrade or remodel. You are the one I fell in love with and you will always be enough." They never needed a counsellor, that's just a third person who meddles and pokes. They needed true friends who understood that they should guide Jack back to Jill and Jill back to Jack - because this life is tough and it is Love that will carry you through.