{"id":4010,"date":"2012-03-05T23:06:50","date_gmt":"2012-03-05T23:06:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/prayables\/?p=4010"},"modified":"2012-03-05T23:06:50","modified_gmt":"2012-03-05T23:06:50","slug":"no-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayables\/2012\/03\/no-replacement.html","title":{"rendered":"No Replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Her Dad remarried three years after Mom died. It was painful all around. Her parents had a storybook love affair. Mom was perfect, his new wife is not.<\/p>\n

When #2 came into their lives, they were sad, hurt, and completely bewildered. What did Dad see in this polar opposite of their sainted mother? Still, it was his choice, and everyone tried to get along. The first holiday dinner with the two families was a disaster. There wasn\u2019t a second.<\/p>\n

She saw less of Dad. When they did get together, she tolerated #2. The mystery remained for thirty long years. How could Dad live with this lightweight? He couldn\u2019t possibly be happy. Yet it appeared he was doing all right.<\/p>\n

Dad is in his eighties now. He\u2019s married as many years to #2 as he was to Mom. In a rare moment, alone with her Dad, he finally explained. \u201cI know my wife is not the sharpest crayon in the box, she\u2019s nothing like Mom.\u00a0 And I\u2019ve never stopped loving your mother or missing her. Often I look over at the couch expecting to see Mom, disappointed to see my wife. But I never wanted a replacement. I only wanted someone to keep me from being lonely<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

#2 is good company, that\u2019s all. Their marriage is about companionship. She gets it now. She\u2019s able to see God\u2019s hand in the selection of #2 for her Dad. You marry for different reasons when you\u2019re widowed. For Dad, finding calm in the storm was preferable to standing out in the rain and remembering blue skies and rainbows. God bless all the #2s\u2019 who ease the loneliness and make somebody happy.<\/p>\n

– Prayables<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Her Dad remarried three years after Mom died. It was painful all around. Her parents had a storybook love affair. Mom was perfect, his new wife is not. When #2 came into their lives, they were sad, hurt, and completely bewildered. What did Dad see in this polar opposite of their sainted mother? Still, it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":463,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[2915,2912,2913,2914,2916],"class_list":["post-4010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspirational-stories","tag-loneliness","tag-no-replacement","tag-remarriage","tag-second-time-around","tag-step-parents"],"yoast_head":"\nNo Replacement - Prayables<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayables\/2012\/03\/no-replacement.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No Replacement - Prayables\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Her Dad remarried three years after Mom died. 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