It's Final

Well, the hard part is over. As of June 2^nd, I'm officially divorced. From now on my name will be Linda Thompson-Odum. I had to keep the Odum because that is the name I'm known by for my writing. It is the name editors look for, and students sign up for my writing classes because of that name. Maybe at some point I will be able to drop it, but I'll keep it for now.

As far as divorces go, mine was pretty easy. My ex and I agreed early on about the settlement, so we only had to go to court one time. The entire proceeding took maybe 15 minutes. Hum, 15 minutes to end a 14 year relationship. Seems a bit sad, doesn't it?

These past 2 months have been an emotional roller coaster. A few weeks before the court date, I began to wonder if we should be trying to make things work one more time, considering all that we learned about each other since I left. But my ex is in a new and serious relationship (move-in-together serious), so there was no chance of that. And, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it wouldn't work. I pictured how I would react if he said he wanted to try again. The reasons I left were very valid, and even though things might change at first, after a time we would be right back were we were before I left. We are such different people-a fact that really came to light once my stepchildren grew up and moved out of the house. Plus, I love my new life, and I would never want to return to the unhappiness of the past.

Once I got past those feelings, my spirits started to improve. I took a couple of weeks off to decompress, regroup and start moving towards the future. There are some sad stumbling blocks ahead-this weekend would have been our anniversary, an event we always celebrated with a party tied into Hillsboro's Balloon Fest. The party is continuing, but of course without me. But as each milestone passes, life gets easier.

My weight is back to what it was at the end of my Let's Get Real column, but for now I'm not really trying to lose any more. I walk for an hour 4 or 5 times a week, but that is more because it makes me feel good than to lose weight. I'm also enjoying as much of the season's fresh fruits and veggies as I can. But I figure I have enough on my plate to worry about dropping a few pounds. I'm sure that time will come again.

One exciting new event in life is that I've been on the radio. Each Sunday morning, 107.7 WTPL has a program called Food for Thought with the Taste Buds, and it is all about food! The hosts have invited me on a couple of times and I've had a blast. I'll be on again July 20^th. If you are a foodie, check it out.

Here is a question for all of you Concord area folks-do you know a good dentist? Mine is in Peterborough, which with gas prices the way they are, is just too far to go for a cleaning. Any local suggestions?