Tales From the Front by Cheryl Lavin

When it comes to love, we all want to be that person who throws caution to the wind, doesn't look before he leaps, goes with his gut and various other clich‚s. But while we're doing that, it's good to have a practical little angel on our shoulder that whispers, "Put the house in your name."

Marlee was working on a project that involved contacting all her high school classmates from Wisconsin. One of them, a guy named Tim, started writing to her.

"His letters talked about how pretty I'd been and how he'd had a crush on me in high school. He'd never actually spoken to me back then, but he did used to come by the place where I'd baby-sit and just hang out outside."

As time went on, the letters started getting more and more serious, more and more intimate. Tim told Marlee that his marriage had been dead for over 30 years. During that time, his wife refused to have sex with him or even sleep in the same bed.

He told Marlee that they were now separated. He worked in a town 120 miles north of his hometown, and he had a small house there where he actually lived.

"I visited him there a few times, and we became very close. He said he'd been planning to get a divorce, but never actually filed the papers 'because (he) didn't need to.'"

Things were going so well that Marlee sold her house in Illinois and spent a lot of money moving into his small house in Wisconsin.

"By then, he'd lost his job. I let myself go into debt for things we'd needed, like a riding mower. The yard was a full acre. I'm still paying that off."

And then everything fell apart. "His stories were all built on lies. He was not separated from his wife. He was staying in the small house weeknights and going home to his wife on Friday nights. And he had no intention of separating from her. Then she found out he was seeing me. Just before Christmas 2008, he called, and I could hear her voice in the background telling him what to say. He said he couldn't see me anymore.

"I cried my eyes out for a long time, but then I tried to carry on. What else could I do? I was glad the house was only in my name, because in October 2009, I sold it and moved back to Illinois.

"I love Wisconsin. I still miss it terribly. I have friends there, too. But I couldn't stay. Tim's youngest son was stalking me. It probably started when he was trying to find out where his father was. And I was terrified of going outdoors after dark, and it was very dark at night in this very small town. Finally, there were too many hurts to stay."

Have you been involved in a long distance relationship? Send your tale, along with your questions, problems and rants to cheryllavinrapp@gmail.com. And check out my blog 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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