I'll be traveling to Arkansas on Friday, Dec. 14, to celebrate my son Michael's birthday which will actually occur this Monday, Dec. 3, his graduation from college on Dec. 15, my son Will's birthday on Dec. 18, and, of course, Christmas. On top of that, Linda and I were married on December 22nd so December has always been a busy month for us. We would save up our money all year long, spend all of it in December, and then start saving again for the following year. And even though Linda and I have been divorced for over seven years now, we still follow the same routine.

 

Many people find it strange that my ex and I have maintained a relationship since we divorced and I suppose I understand that. It seems to be a requirement that people who divorce not only don't love each other anymore but shouldn't like each other either. I never understood that. Linda didn't divorce me because she hated me, she just didn't want to be married to me anymore. A guy she was dating last Thanksgiving actually broke up with her because she allowed me to stay at her house and he couldn't understand why she would do that. She told him that I had been a part of her life for over 30 years, that I was the father of her children and that I would always be welcome in her home whenever I wanted to come. He couldn't tolerate that so she doesn't see him anymore. We have spent every Thanksgiving with each other since our divorce and this year, I decided to spend Christmas instead of Thanksgiving because there's so much more time. It's almost an eleven hour drive to Arkansas from McCook. The faculty always have a work day on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving so I wouldn't get in until after midnight and then had to leave early Sunday morning to drive back home. By going on Christmas instead, the visit will be much more leisurely and we'll be able to do a lot more.

 

To add even more interest to our holiday this year, I was working on the computer two Saturdays ago when I received an e-mail alert from Pollstar that Van Morrison had announced four dates in the United States this year and one of them was going to be in Reno. I missed him the last time he performed in the United States and I was afraid I would never have another chance. As soon as I saw where he was going to be, I picked up the phone and called my ex.

I told her that we've done many family things together since our divorce, she and the boys have gone places together, the boys and I have gone places together but she and I haven't done anything with just each other so I asked her if she wanted to go to Reno with me.

At first she thought I was kidding but when I convinced her I wasn't, she decided it was a great idea. She told me she knew we would have a good time because we always had good times together. So I called and bought tickets to the show and then arranged the flight and hotel.

We'll be flying out of Little Rock on Thursday the 20th, attend the concert the following night, do some gambling, eating, and dancing the following day and night which would have been our 34th wedding anniversary, and then fly back to Little Rock on the 23rd.

 

She's called all her friends and I've told most of mine and everyone we tell assumes we're getting back together and that we'll end up remarrying but we're not and we won't.

I know it's hard for people to understand this concept but Linda and I are friends. We enjoy each other's company. We enjoy doing things together. We always have. And we're going to Reno as friends. She's just a much more attractive friend than the guys I've been going places with in the recent past. The last time I went to Reno, I went with Coach Bonow. Now nothing against Coach, but all things being equal, Linda's a lot better looking than he is.

 

She has a new boyfriend she's seeing now and she's already told him that she's going with me. She says he's okay with it. Now I can tell you that I wouldn't be okay with it if the girl I was seeing was going to take a trip with her ex-husband but she says he is. I guess we'll see if he really is the closer we get to the time we leave.

 

The woman I'm still in love with kept asking me towards the end of our relationship how she could be sure that if she left the relationship she was in and came to me that our relationship would be any better than the one she had left. I believed that everything I had done for three years was proof positive that EVERYTHING would be better than the one she had left but evidently she couldn't convince herself of that.

 

 So I take some solace that the woman I was married to for 25 years still likes me.