I found out today that my dad and his girlfriend broke up. At first I couldn't believe it. Linda has been living with my dad for almost 3 years. When I first met her I decided that I wasn't going to get to know her; she was the third woman to live with my dad in six years. She would leave eventually, so I just wasn't going to try this time. But after a while I got to know her, and I liked her, and I didn't realize how big a part of my life she'd become until I suddenly realized that she's not going to be a part of it anymore. She gave me someone to talk to about my dad and about his family at grandma's memorial. When my dad didn't say anything about my engagement, she showed me some wedding planning websites and looked at wedding dresses with me online. She always cooked vegetarian dinners for me when I came over, and her art was always all over the house. I loved looking at her art. I wanted her to be a part of my wedding planning. I was looking forward to her coming to the engagement party and just getting to talk about the whole process with her and get her advice, since her daughter got married a few years ago. I knew she could do better than my dad and that he didn't treat her right, but it still didn't seem like she would ever leave. But now she has, and I want to keep her around. I want to still hang out with her, to talk to her and hear about her life, but I don't know if that will be possible. I'll probably call her sometime soon and see about that. I'd still like her to come to the engagement party, but that would probably be too awkward for both her and Dad.
It makes me sad to think that my dad is alone now. That he's going to have two rooms in his house what were Linda's art studio and office that he's going to have to do something with now, that he's going to be spending so much time in his house alone. I'm even more sad because this proves that he hasn't changed, that his cycle is still going to continue. Soon he'll have another girlfriend, and my bet is that within a year there will be someone else living with him. Maybe I really won't bother to get to know her this time.