Committed to What?

Jon agreed to help his ex-wife talk to their 14 year old daughter about the vulgar, sexual emails to and from a guy named Rik who was in his 20's. Stevie, dreading the conversation, said, "I'm sure Shawna will be in her room ranting and raving at the empty space where her computer monitor once sat." Upon hearing Stevie's lightened tone, Jon smiled in spite of the situation. If their tragic experience with their son's overdose had done anything for them, it had made them more resilient. Stevie would get through this episode all right, and so would he. Jon hung up the phone and rubbed his forehead. There was more to deal with here than just Shawna. Stevie had turned to him for advice and consolation, something she had done only a few times since the split. Jon could not deny that such expressions of need stirred up the guardian and protector in him. Only fourteen months earlier they had renounced their commitment to each other. If those commitments were truly ended, Jon wondered why, at moments like these, there was not more distance between him and his ex-wife.