Tales From the Front by Cheryl Lavin

Jenna dated Luke all through her high school years.

"He treated me terribly. He'd break up with me, threaten to break up with me, stand me up, not call, etc. He managed to turn me against girls who'd been my friends by making me jealous. And I'm not really a jealous person."

Jenna put up with it because she thought Luke was "the one." And there were other powerful forces pushing them together. Namely, her parents. They didn't like him. He was two years older, and during Jenna's freshman and sophomore years, they forbid them to see each other. They had to sneak around. Jenna also says her self-esteem was low. It was a perfect storm of young love.

"I was determined to hang onto him."

Luke joined the military when he graduated and was sent overseas. He didn't write Jenna very often, but he still expected her to write every day. And he continued to manipulate her. Even though he'd dated other girls while they were sneaking around, he told her she couldn't see anyone else.

Jenna and Luke made plans to marry when his tour was over. But then he decided to extend his stay. That meant moving their wedding dates several months forward. Jenna told him she'd go to college while she waited for him.

"He informed me that going to college was out of the question and if I decided to go, not to bother writing back. By this time, it was senior year, and I was getting fed up. Other boys were noticing me, and I finally broke everything off."

Luke's response to Jenna was a nasty letter asking, "Who do you think you are?"

"Well, I was the girl who no longer wanted him.

Then he decided he wanted me after all and begged me to take him back. When he came home on leave, I tried to recapture the feelings, but I just couldn't, and we parted as sort-of friends."

Jenna got married, and so did Luke. After a few years, Jenna got divorced, and so did Luke. She asked him to take her to her company Christmas party, as just-friends. Jenna's boss was there with Tricia. Luke was introduced to Tricia and sparks flew. They moved in together a couple of weeks later.

"They lived together on and off for a few years, finally got married. She had affairs right and left, then finally left him and moved in with another series of guys. Then they got back together. They finally got a divorce."

The next time Jenna saw Luke was when she was back in her hometown with her "handsome" second husband and her "beautiful year-old baby boy. I wasn't there to rub my happiness in his face, but I know he was looking at me and thinking that if he'd acted better, it might have been him with a great little family. I hear he's married for the third time. He's never had children."

A few years ago, Jenna ran into Luke. He apologized to her for the way he had treated her.

"I told him that I felt that the fact that I introduced him to his second wife was vengeance enough. The best revenge, I've learned, is when you don't want it anymore."

Have you ever apologized to someone for treating them poorly? Send your tale, along with your questions and problems to cheryllavin@aol.com. You can visit her blog at www.talesfromthefront.com. To find out more about Cheryl Lavin, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com.

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