your perfect imperfections
By Elizabeth
@Poppylicious (11134)
United Kingdom
October 29, 2016 6:33pm CST
One of my favourite memories from childhood is the wedding of my cousin, where I got to wear a pretty pink dress, carry a bunch of flowers, and feel like a princess for a whole day.
This week my cousin sent me a message and in doing so, she trampled this memory under her heels.
The marriage is no more. They recently divorced; it's been on the cards for a few years but they waited to make it official till the youngest was safely ensconced at uni. The house is up for sale {800k, if you're interested}. They're both in new relationships.
Blah. Blah. Blah.
It's just incredibly weird to me. They are {were} the perfect family, and until now they have continued to portray themselves to the wider world {presumably not their closest family and friends} as the perfect family. Holidays, weekends away, birthday celebrations, Christmas cheer ... it's all been publicly displayed. They've even continued to send those sickly sweet annual newsletters detailing the fun they've had and the achievements they've made, as a family.
Why the Big Pretense?
That's what I don't understand. It makes everything from the last few years feel fake. I have always been in awe of this cousin. They were the rich relatives, who never had to worry about money. She was, and still is, beautiful. Intelligent. Funny. She has produced beautiful, intelligent children. She has a beautiful home in a beautiful village.
And now she's having a beautifully perfect, very amicable and friendly, divorce.
Perfect people are good at making everything seem perfect, even the imperfect bits. I'd rather have a bit of drama!
10 people like this
10 responses
@louievill (28846)
• Philippines
30 Oct 16
Even plastic could sometimes be perfect and could take the form of real objects.
5 people like this
@Mike197602 (15504)
• United Kingdom
30 Oct 16
perfect plastic is the amex black
No chance I'll get it anytime soon
No chance I'll get it anytime soon1 person likes this
@louievill (28846)
• Philippines
30 Oct 16
@Mike197602 perfect plastic is used in glock pistols
1 person likes this
@Mike197602 (15504)
• United Kingdom
30 Oct 16
@louievill I think plastic cards and polymer glocks may be different
But after a few years of shooting I don't like glocks anyway...my favourite in the fn 57 as even I can hit the target with that
But after a few years of shooting I don't like glocks anyway...my favourite in the fn 57 as even I can hit the target with that1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
30 Oct 16
sad that their relationship has collapsed though it shouldn't tarnish your lovely early memory of being a princess
2 people like this
@skysnap (20152)
•
30 Oct 16
I sometimes think perfection is the ability of mind to be hard on itself and punish for not meeting specific criteria. And then there is nature, which does imperfect things and get things done. for example in garbage if kept in closed contain creates gas which could be fuel.. totally good thing out of imperfect waste. so i wonder things that we assume perfect are not so.
2 people like this
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
30 Oct 16
It's also likely that the people we see as perfect would be horrified that we see them that way as all they see are their own imperfections!
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
30 Oct 16
I get the impression they talked about it a lot. It isn't about the not telling, it's about how life has moved on for them, even though the rest of the world was in blissful ignorance.
1 person likes this
@Mike197602 (15504)
• United Kingdom
30 Oct 16
I didn't realise people actually sent a newsletter type thing in real life...thought it was just on tv programs
Why would anyone do that????
Maybe, in some way, she's a fur coat and no knickers type
Why would anyone do that????
Maybe, in some way, she's a fur coat and no knickers type3 people like this
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
30 Oct 16
I think it tends to be the perfect people who send them!
1 person likes this
@allen0187 (59830)
• Philippines
30 Oct 16
I don't want the drama honestly.
Well-written piece. Not everything is what it seems. Salt can sometimes be mistaken as sugar and it is only when one tastes it, that a person differs one from another.
2 people like this
@LeaPea2417 (40037)
• Toccoa, Georgia
2 Nov 16
Your story reminds me of my Aunt's brother. He married one of the girls at our Church and they were so in love. They had two sons and lived the perfect life. Their sons grew up with advantages. They are men now. They had friends and family etc. and the perfect jobs.
So, it shocked me to no end, when my Mom called me a couple of years ago and told me they were getting divorced! It was not an amicable one either. They loathed each other and the wife really took him to court.
It just goes to show that not all is as it seems. People put on faces to the outside world in lots of cases.
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
31 Oct 16
i've known 'f folks such's yer cousin'. they do their best to put 'p a facade 'f happiness 'n great success. i hope they jest grew 'part 'n ugliness didn't consume their marriage.
1 person likes this
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
31 Oct 16
If it did, they managed to keep it well hidden from public scrutiny!
1 person likes this
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
30 Oct 16
Haha! It's nice to know that wherever you live there are people who insist on them!
1 person likes this
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
3 Nov 16
@jennyjoy True. But there's something warm in knowing the letter was typed/written, the envelope given your name and address, and a stamp bought, before the person headEd out to pop it in the post box. Technology makes things so much more impersonal, even the things we don't like!
1 person likes this
@jennyjoy (1957)
• Bangalore, India
31 Oct 16
@Poppylicious Yes,but it is dying out now ,people prefer to use the latest technology.
1 person likes this
