Dear So and So

[indysteel]

Dear dear friend:

I love you and your boys; you're like family to me. Your husband, however, is a jerk. I don't know how to respond to half of what you say about him, especially since you say most of it so matter of factly (is "factly" a word?). Today's comment was a perfect example of this: "We were going to call you Saturday about a play date in the park, but Husband realized that he 'hadn't done anything with the boys all summer,' so we went to Eagle Creek for a hike."

The father of your children, your husband, hasn't done anything with his own children for the last three months? How can that be? I can't tell if you're miserable and just too prideful to let on or if you're just resigned to the situation. From my vantage point, this is not a happy family. I've mostly held my tongue because when I have given you a bit of bait to talk openly about your marriage, you haven't taken it. But, honestly, I'm very concerned. And sad. You and the boys deserve so much more.

Signed,

A very worried surrogate aunt