Back to blog

For Better or For Better: A Story of Divorce, Dachshunds and Everlasting Love
……tells the story of a self-centered, emotional young actress – me –
and my marriage to Paul , the tall, patient University of Minnesota graduate school mate I fall in love with, come to rely on, and , at age 24, marry. The year : 1973.
A decade later, after we establish NYC lives in the theater, Paul emerges from the closet , and from our marriage, forcing me to face my future and my own possibilities, certain that I can face neither without Paul. I am forced to grow up.

Meanwhile, against all emotional odds, Paul and I remain beloved, necessary friends. As we each slog through romances with all the wrong men, we never let go of the essential love we feel for each other. Yes, we are divorced, but are we really? Co-dependence dies hard …..One day, I meet and unexpectedly fall in love with Peter, an actor 25 years my junior….in fact he was born the day after Paul and I married in 1973 ….
I ‘m sure he’ll leave me eventually, breaking my aging heart, but he never does. True love with a straight man finally seems possible for me, and our life together begins.

My ex, Paul, in a celebratory and somewhat spiteful gesture, buys us two dachshund puppies . When I take them to local vet, Dr. Stephen Cole , I discover the doc is looking for the right guy. So, naturally, I fix him up with ex-husband Paul and they fall in love on their first date.

However, all is not smooth sailing, as inter-couple squabbles ensue, boundaries are set, territories invaded, rivalries flare and jealousies thrive. But somehow that all brings us closer together.

Years down the road, what I thought would kill me – the divorce from Paul – results in the coming-together of 4 people who respect and love each other.

We now share a house in the Haight, including the dogs, who have free vet service for life.

THE ABOVE TELLS , IN BREIF , THE SPINE OF THE STORY I TELL- OR HAVE TOLD- PEOPLE EVER SINCE DECIDING TO PUT THE STORY OF PAUL, STEPHEN , PETER AND ME INTO A BOOK….A BOOK THAT SITS AND CONTINUES TO BE REVISED AND REWRITTEN…..AND THAT IS THE STORY OFTEN TOLD FROM MY POINT OF VIEW……THE TRUTH IS, SUCH A BLITHE DESCRIPTION COVERS OVER LAYERS AND LAYERS OF THE MOST HAIR RAISING AND HUMAN OF ADVENTURES…AND NOW THAT DEAR PAUL IS GONE – HE DIED SOME MONTHS AGO FROM LUNG CANCER – THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO WRITE ABOUT….SUFFICE IT TO SAY, FOR NOW,ESTATES ARE BEING SETTLED, STEPHEN IS THE EXECUTOR OF PAULS ESTATE, AND EVENTUALLY OUR DEAR HOUSE WILL BE SOLD AND THE PROCEEDS DIVIDED….UNLESS OF COURSE WE DECIDE TO BUY IT AS A WHOLE AND TRY TO MAINTAIN WHAT IS CLEARLY TOO LARGE A HOUSE FOR JUST PETER AND ME….. WE MAY MOVE PETER’S PARENT HERE, WHO, AFTER ALL, ARE MY AGE! YES, MY DARLING LAD – MY YOUNG LAD – HAS PARENTS WHO ARE MY AGE….IN FACT, I AM A FEW MONTHS OLDER THAN HIS MOM!
AIN’T LIFE AN ADVENTURE?