Went to a holiday party Friday night with my husband and 14-year-old daughter. There were lots of people from work there - it's a smallish specialized scientific community. Most people were acquaintances but a few friends from 20+ years ago have also ended up living here and were at the party.
One such woman, I'll call her Karen, was there Friday night. Back in school, she and I and my husband were part of a large group of mostly grad students who went out every Wednesday night (we called it "hump night"). We did all different kinds of things, saw movies together, went to clubs sometimes, had potlucks, etc.
Karen was always a real flake, always letting her friends down. You could never rely on her to follow through with anything she said or did. She ended up hurting a lot of people as a result. I should mention that she started seeing a guy whom she eventually married and had a daughter, but when we were students she was seeing him and also sleeping with one of the professors.
Since then, I've seen and talked to Karen once, at a party about 3 years ago. Our daughters are the same age, and they found each other at the same party and hung out together for a few hours.
Anyway, Friday night Karen and her daughter were at the Christmas party. I saw Karen, tried to nod hello, but she ignored me. I saw her daughter and pointed her out to mine as the girl she had seemed to enjoy visiting with before, so the two girls got together and went somewhere to talk.
I found out later that Karen went to the room and talked to my daughter. Some of what she told her "I know ALL about all of your mother's boyfriends when we were in grad school. Definitely the best 'pick of the bunch' was your dad. She also used to have a lot of animal and bat-themed parties, too, I could tell you all about those." Then she finished with the classic, "Don't tell your mother I told you these things."
None of this was true - before I met and married my husband, I dated ONE guy during the time I knew Karen. I had only ONE party (it was a Halloween costume party and I made myself a bat costume). The party was hosted by four of us because we were too poor to afford a party alone!
This woman made me sound like I was a sleep-around party girl to my teen daughter, when in reality I was working to obtain a second degree, was 100% self-sufficient supporting myself, and was dating one guy who is now her dad. UGH what a stupid woman.
One such woman, I'll call her Karen, was there Friday night. Back in school, she and I and my husband were part of a large group of mostly grad students who went out every Wednesday night (we called it "hump night"). We did all different kinds of things, saw movies together, went to clubs sometimes, had potlucks, etc.
Karen was always a real flake, always letting her friends down. You could never rely on her to follow through with anything she said or did. She ended up hurting a lot of people as a result. I should mention that she started seeing a guy whom she eventually married and had a daughter, but when we were students she was seeing him and also sleeping with one of the professors.
Since then, I've seen and talked to Karen once, at a party about 3 years ago. Our daughters are the same age, and they found each other at the same party and hung out together for a few hours.
Anyway, Friday night Karen and her daughter were at the Christmas party. I saw Karen, tried to nod hello, but she ignored me. I saw her daughter and pointed her out to mine as the girl she had seemed to enjoy visiting with before, so the two girls got together and went somewhere to talk.
I found out later that Karen went to the room and talked to my daughter. Some of what she told her "I know ALL about all of your mother's boyfriends when we were in grad school. Definitely the best 'pick of the bunch' was your dad. She also used to have a lot of animal and bat-themed parties, too, I could tell you all about those." Then she finished with the classic, "Don't tell your mother I told you these things."
None of this was true - before I met and married my husband, I dated ONE guy during the time I knew Karen. I had only ONE party (it was a Halloween costume party and I made myself a bat costume). The party was hosted by four of us because we were too poor to afford a party alone!
This woman made me sound like I was a sleep-around party girl to my teen daughter, when in reality I was working to obtain a second degree, was 100% self-sufficient supporting myself, and was dating one guy who is now her dad. UGH what a stupid woman.
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