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By Echolocation Date: 2001 Jul 28 Comment on this Work [[2001.07.28.02.05.8276]] |
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Some definitions: (a) "Annulment of a marriage is legislative or judicial invalidation of it, as in law never having existed, as distinct from dissolution [divorce], which terminates a valid marriage." --The Oxford Companion to Law, ed. D.M. Walker (1980), s.v. (b) "An 'annulment' differs from a divorce in that a divorce terminates a legal status, whereas an annulment establishes that a marital status never existed." --Black's Law Dictionary (6th ed. 1990), s.v. "Annulment." I thought that after ten years there was nothing further you could do that could possibly hurt me. Silly me. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I heard from you. Told me that your new wife (well, five years), being a Catholic, was now upset by the fact that you are an Evil Divorcee So you want my permission to seek an annulment of our marriage Ouch. Not content with the divorce - "Oops, sorry, I made a mistake, I don't feel like being married" - You now want to eradicate it, make it as if it never happened. "Oops, it wasn't a mistake, it was actually all a dream and never happened." Fat chance. Life isn't like that. The choices you make leave tracks, a history, And while some might be content with the polite legal fiction that you can simply Expunge them The heart knows better. The heart doesn't recognize deletions Because love is written by hand and carved in marble, As permanent as the Rosetta stone and as inscrutable It doesn't just disappear You can't cover it up and pretend it never was And even if you take a hammer and chisel and hack it out A trace of what was once there will always remain So get all the pieces of paper you want Surround yourself with holier-than-thou celibate churchmen who've never known love (and so what right do they have?) Let them pronounce anything they feel like Paint over it until you (think you) can't see it any more It won't change the truth We existed We lived We loved And anything else is a lie |