We got a card from Mike's late wife's brother yesterday.

 About a year ago he happened to call and I answered the phone. He seemed friendly enough even though I could tell he didn't like the fact that Mike had a girlfriend just 7 or 8 months after Sheri's death.

 You gotta know a little about the whole picture before you go all haywire and think all sorts of things.

 Mike left his first wife, Cindy after 23 years of marriage. We've talked a lot about our previous relationships and this is what I have gleaned from those conversations.

 Mike met Cindy while they both were in the Army and stationed in Germany. They lived together for quite some time and Cindy decided she wanted a baby. Mike, being Catholic, couldn't bring himself to bring a child in the world out of wedlock so they decided to get married. Everything went well for a while and when both had come out of the Army, they eventually bought a place near her family.

 This is where things sort of started down hill. First, Mike took a back seat to her family, which to me is just wrong. Your spouse comes first, no matter what. Then she took to not wanting to have sex, which I don't really understand.

 He even had a vasectomy after their youngest child was born because one excuse she used was that she didn't want to get pregnant again. This was a crock of shit. She just came up with more excuses. She took to using her toys to replace sex with Mike.

 Any time Mike tried to talk to her she ignored him and she put on a front to the rest of the world that there was no problem and they were all honky dory.

 After the kids were grown, Mike kept trying to talk to her and it didn't get anywhere. Things just got worse til one day Mike just packed up his stuff and moved out.

 He met Sheri online and they talked a lot and eventually met. I read letters they wrote to each other and the ones from her did a lot of complaining and his were telling her he hoped the money he sent helped her out. Big red flags popped up as I read these letters. She was a gold digger who Mike discovered to be an alcoholic to boot after she had moved in with him.

 The marriage lasted 7 years, but after a year it was the same story as with Cindy. Sheri had promised a lot of stuff she didn't come through on. She made love to the beer can and when confronted got violent. In 2006 she found out she had cancer and by this time the marriage was done for. Mike had realized that she had used him and that there was no hope for the situation. He wasn't giving up another home and refused to leave. He simply moved into another bedroom.

 Sheri died in December 2006. By the time this happened, the only thing left was a sense of relief.  Seven months later Mike and I met and we've built a life together.

 Sheri's son called once or twice and after I sent him most of his mother's things, he left us alone.

 The brother seems to be accepting of the situation. Do I want this woman's family in our lives? NO. She was an evil and hateful person who treated the man I love like shit and I'm doing everything I can to erase her from the house and our life together. I have the full support of Mike who now can admit she drove him to hate her.

 When the son talked to me he said he had a prblem at first when he found out about me and I told him point blank he had no right to even have an opinion about it.

 I fully expect to eventually hear from one other of Sheri's relatives. It's an Aunt who I suppose raised her.

 I guess that's all for now.