Okay, so not all of my exes actually live in Texas. It's actually only a couple that either live here or are from here, something I never noticed until recently. And I only noticed it because I've heard from both of them since I've been Down South. My best friend (who turned 31 today, Happy Birthday!) has always said my dating history amazes her because I have been all over the map in terms of type. I do tend to favor certain things, but in terms of looks my exes are all pretty different (the only thing they have in common is they're all brunettes, except for one). Personality-wise, they're also a mixed bag, but the one thing they all have in common is they all were (or on occasion could be) very generous people. I think that's why I've managed to stay on amicable terms with most of them. Because no matter how nasty some of the break-ups were, we eventually went to our separate corners and cooled off and realized we did care about each other at some point and so there shouldn't be animosity. Obviously, I don't stay in close contact with any of them since we all have our own lives now. But every now and then I get a text or I shoot off a text when I hear something's happened to someone (marriage, baby, death in the family).
Because of these somewhat amicable relationships with some of the exes, I wasn't surprised to get a couple of texts after my ER debacle the other night (cliffnotes: ER for pain, maybe losing the spleen, time will tell). Texas is a big ass state but Dallas seems to be a small ass town. This ex and I have an extensive history and used to follow the same M.O. every time we were single. We'd put out a text or a call and ask if the other was single, spend some time rebounding with each other and then head on back out there into the wild world or dating (other people). A few years ago, we had a week together where we seriously considered getting back together but something was missing, so we decided to officially, officially end it and move on for good. Fate had other plans. A month after we made that decision, her brother was killed and she called me. I went to the funeral and spent the weekend with her and I just remember it feeling very...different. It wasn't awkward or anything, I think she was just grieving and we both knew there was nothing I could say to make it better or bring her brother back, so we spent a lot of time in silence. And somehow at the end of the weekend, without speaking much, we decided that we were actually at the end. We still cared about each other but whatever had us running back to one another when life got too rough was gone. Since then, we've spoken very rarely. But this week I had to call on her to help me with a project. But what once was there is still MIA so it was strictly business. And that felt right actually. And considering the hold we used to have on each other, it's crazy to think about how it's just gone now.
Ex numero dos and I took an interesting route to the dating thing. We were actually acquaintances for years but nothing close to being friends. Honestly, I had a completely different impression of her than what she's really like. I thought she was serious all the time and all about work and just not my kinda people. But she showed up completely unexpectedly after my accident and brought me two of my favorite things and just sat and listened to me vent. After that we became friends and eventually began dating and it went well for awhile. But it soon went off the rails and ended in ugly fashion, although the end of our relationship was the beginning of my climbing out of the hole I'd dug myself into. We, of course, fell into hooking up whenever we were single and bored. Then one day she suddenly cut off all contact for about a month. When she resurfaced, she said she was catching feelings and needed the distance because if we dated again and it didn't work out she wouldn't be able to have me in her life anymore, and she still wanted to be friends. So we went back to being just friends...but started hooking up again awhile later. Then my best friend reminded me that the reason we stopped hooking up was the feelings thing and wondered what was different now. I asked the same question to the ex and she never gave me a reply and promptly made her exit. We've barely talked since then, but she texted recently after hearing I was unwell. I thanked her for the concern but told her I was still kickin' and that was that. I was shocked she even still had my number and I highly doubt I'll hear from her again. Evidently she just happened to be in town and heard a rumor and wanted to check it out. So, I guess really only two of my exes live in Texas.
