Masks
For Halloween my son was Robin from Batman and Robin. He had on a Robin mask with his costume so people would know who he was. He wore a disguise.
Nobody knew it was him until he lifted the mask and showed his face.
I guess we all wear invisible masks sometimes when we don't want people to see the real us, see our real faces, see our real feelings about things. Sometimes we lift our masks and sometimes not. But, sometimes our real selves are revealed even with our masks on. We reveal ourselves in our actions.
My sister called me last night and she was on the verge of crying. Her voice cracked several times and when I asked her what was wrong she said that in almost a whisper that her husband of 9 years wanted a divorce. I was thinking that he finally took off the mask and she finally is seeing him for what he truly is.
Over the 9 years they have been married and over the 10 years they have been together I have seen him wear lots of masks to lots of people. Ironically, when he was small he attended a camp where my grandmother volunteered at. It was a summer camp. I guess he was around 8 or 9 at the time and my grandmother used to come back and tell my mom about this little boy named "Taylor" she would tell my mom that he was a character and that she didn't know what would become of him later in life. Little did she dream that later in life he would meet her granddaughter and they would marry. My grandmother got dementia later in life and by the time this wedding took place, I should say elopement, took place my grandmother didn't remember anyone including Taylor. So, she didn't know the storm that was coming.
So, if you look at Taylors Facebook page you will see him wearing the mask of the good Christian as he calls himself. He goes to church when he can and then comes back and preaches the gospel according to him on his page. If you were just to know him from the page or church you would think that he was a good Christian man who loves the Lord. I am not saying that he doesn't love the Lord in his own way I am saying there is more to him. He puts on his Sunday mask and attends church. After he leaves church then that mask comes off and part of his real self is revealed to my sister. He is not all sugar and spice and everything nice. He is moody, vengeful, and disrespectful at home. He wants control. He wants control over "his" house. He pretends he doesn't but his actions prove otherwise.
My sister wore masks too. She put on a "I don't want to believe what I see mask" when it came to him. She wanted to be in love and she fell in love with love. She didn't show her real self to him either. They were both guilty of that. She wore the mask of a happy person in love. If you talked to her and looked at her when she was in public you would think that everything was nice, she was in love and Taylor was the love of her life. She would smile and brag about him. She would say she loved everything about him to complete strangers and proudly show off the third finger on her left hand where her wedding ring sat all the time.
But, she did every now and then take her mask off when she was with me. I would see the real pain in her eyes when she talked about him, when she was upset with him. I would see how that smile would leave her face and wouldn't return until she put back on her mask for the others she was trying to fool.
I guess we are all guilty of that sometimes, wearing masks, taking off masks and revealing ourselves to others whom we trust.
Last night when my sister called me all the masks were off, his and hers and what they say in each other they could no longer live with.
I guess we all wear invisible masks sometimes when we don't want people to see the real us, see our real faces, see our real feelings about things. Sometimes we lift our masks and sometimes not. But, sometimes our real selves are revealed even with our masks on. We reveal ourselves in our actions.
My sister called me last night and she was on the verge of crying. Her voice cracked several times and when I asked her what was wrong she said that in almost a whisper that her husband of 9 years wanted a divorce. I was thinking that he finally took off the mask and she finally is seeing him for what he truly is.
Over the 9 years they have been married and over the 10 years they have been together I have seen him wear lots of masks to lots of people. Ironically, when he was small he attended a camp where my grandmother volunteered at. It was a summer camp. I guess he was around 8 or 9 at the time and my grandmother used to come back and tell my mom about this little boy named "Taylor" she would tell my mom that he was a character and that she didn't know what would become of him later in life. Little did she dream that later in life he would meet her granddaughter and they would marry. My grandmother got dementia later in life and by the time this wedding took place, I should say elopement, took place my grandmother didn't remember anyone including Taylor. So, she didn't know the storm that was coming.
So, if you look at Taylors Facebook page you will see him wearing the mask of the good Christian as he calls himself. He goes to church when he can and then comes back and preaches the gospel according to him on his page. If you were just to know him from the page or church you would think that he was a good Christian man who loves the Lord. I am not saying that he doesn't love the Lord in his own way I am saying there is more to him. He puts on his Sunday mask and attends church. After he leaves church then that mask comes off and part of his real self is revealed to my sister. He is not all sugar and spice and everything nice. He is moody, vengeful, and disrespectful at home. He wants control. He wants control over "his" house. He pretends he doesn't but his actions prove otherwise.
My sister wore masks too. She put on a "I don't want to believe what I see mask" when it came to him. She wanted to be in love and she fell in love with love. She didn't show her real self to him either. They were both guilty of that. She wore the mask of a happy person in love. If you talked to her and looked at her when she was in public you would think that everything was nice, she was in love and Taylor was the love of her life. She would smile and brag about him. She would say she loved everything about him to complete strangers and proudly show off the third finger on her left hand where her wedding ring sat all the time.
But, she did every now and then take her mask off when she was with me. I would see the real pain in her eyes when she talked about him, when she was upset with him. I would see how that smile would leave her face and wouldn't return until she put back on her mask for the others she was trying to fool.
I guess we are all guilty of that sometimes, wearing masks, taking off masks and revealing ourselves to others whom we trust.
Last night when my sister called me all the masks were off, his and hers and what they say in each other they could no longer live with.
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