Who did you never want to turn into when you got older? I remember the episode of “The Brady Bunch” when Jan hoped she wouldn’t look like her kooky aunt (played by Imogene Coca). When I responded to this prompt, I thought about how we, the children born in the Fifties, were raised to believe our futures would be secured by marrying and marrying well. That just wasn’t in the cards for me.
A longtime boyfriend proposed to me and I said no. All I could envision with him was Kramer vs. Kramer. I married someone I should never have married, but I was getting older, he was Jewish, yada, yada, yada. It was a very poor match. And so I ended up being what I feared most: being divorced.
And yet, I’ve made it work for me. I don’t have to answer to anyone. I don’t have to worry about someone rounding off numbers one way or the other in the checkbook. I know exactly where the TV remote is. Still, there are certainly times when it would be helpful to have a partner in life. When I need a ride to a colonoscopy. When I have surgery or when I have pneumonia. When I just need a hug.
I don’t get to see my son and his family often enough. My own sicknesses have prevented me from visiting them, especially during COVID. But I’ve never regretted divorcing his father. It was liberating and I felt that the decree enabled me to return to my authentic self, including reclaiming my maiden name of Krasner.
Who did you fear of becoming?
The Whole Megillah 