After Elisa’s secret lover, Eric, suddenly and unexpectedly passes away, she faces the pain, guilt and grief of her loss, alone.
When Elisa contacted me for help after “her friend”, Eric, unexpectedly passed, like so many other people, in my years of advising people, she didn’t quite give me the full story. What I mean is… she gave me the “safe” story first, while she tested the waters. It wasn’t until she could gauge my response and if she could trust me in not judging her, that she felt safe enough to share the whole story of what happened and why she was so deeply grieved in more ways than usual.
You see, like anyone who fears being judged by others, and the added pain it can bring to an already difficult situation, Elisa was hesitant to tell me that Eric was not just her friend. But after a few emails back and forth, she finally told me that he was her boss, and married boyfriend, too, and that, for many years, she and Eric were involved in a secret relationship.
In her own words, and with Elisa’s permission, I share parts of her emails.
“I am a divorcee, and was pretty happy with my life before him, but he won me over with his charm, his wit, his words and his intelligence. As a busy CEO of many offices, I did not see him everyday, only once a week when he came to his office at my workplace. But, we spoke on the phone every work day! Not long, maybe half and hour, sometimes more. The best thing, which I miss so much are those calls. We sure talked A LOT!” Continue reading