Willfully Deceived

The fact that your wife will accept your excuses for coming home late now and then, and never demand that you come up with evidence proving to her where you've been Doesn't mean cheating's as easy as you and your partner believed it to be, and you're gonna see where I'm comin' from, friend, when I tell you what happened to me. Women are wiser, and stronger, than men...and are far more inclined to forgive... better at keeping commitments...and promises...usually as long as they live, While men tend to wander when tempted by weaknesses women can better endure - by needs they - imagine...then - dodge prosecution - by claiming to be...insecure. A week ago Sunday my wife passed away, and for years I was sure she'd believed my bogus excuses...only now learning she'd chose to be - willfully deceived! While sorting through items our children might want, deciding on who would get what, from under her sweaters I drew out a diary that gave me a kick in the gut. Hard to believe how much pain can be dealt by the “Truth” that a diary tells. The comments that hurt me the most were the ones where she talked about colors and smells, Recounting the minuscule traces of lipstick on collars in shades she didn't own... lamenting the nights when she couldn't - but should have been able to reach me by phone, And noting the pain that would bring her to tears when...as I would enter the room... she, once again, would be drowned by the heartbreaking wave of a foreign perfume. Her diary was proof that she hadn't been fooled, but elected to hope for the best, continually praying I'd tire of cheating - and of...willingly failing the test. Reading her words, I was only reminded how wonderfully special she was. And, friend...when a chance to betray comes along...as, sadly, one too often does, To savor the charms of a like-minded woman...remember how my woman grieved... preferring to act like she had no idea...choosing instead to be willfully deceived!