Might As Well Be

I don’t know what to call her
the mother of my son’s three children.
Nothing sounds right; all the words
too awkward.  Not a wife.  Not a lover.
Significant other, too cumbersome
Partner… unfitting for their union.

Para-wife, I reply.

What’s that?

Para means almost.  Almost wife.
Just as good as.

Might as well be, Pete says, and the conversation
goes on as that teaching moment comes
and leaves us, him with a different perception of his almost-daughter
the one he never had, but always wished he could
the woman who will carry his legacy long after
he has left this world, his treasured para-daughter.

by Julie Hassett, ACSW, LICSW
Clinical Social Worker
Psychotherapy & Consultation
401 829 0590