My 21 year relationship with my wife has come to a sudden and abrupt end. This is a terrible thing. What makes it worse is that she decided on this while I am away from my home in Florida and that leaves me stranded Minnesota.
As a result of all this messy business, I will be unable to accept reed or cane orders until such time as I can get my ass back down to Florida, find a home and settle in.
I am posting this here because I want to reach all who have contacted me, and who may visit this forum, about reeds during the past two months to let them, and future clients know that my operation is temporarily at a standstill. I( have no clue when it will start up again but I will do my best to expediate the matter and post here when I am up and running again.
I think I know how you feel as I went through the same thing 2 years ago after spending close to 20 years together (we met very young). Things like this are very tough to deal with, especially if you are the part that didn’t see it coming.
But in the darkest of moments I use to cheer my self up with a dark humorous thought that “ a fair bit of suffering was what I needed to become a very good piper”
There are no short cuts, no optimal solution to find and it will take time, but it can still end on a good note for both of you, no matter the outcome.
We separated, went through with the divorce, got on with our lives, found ourselves and then each other after
a year semi-apart. We are now happily married again and our relationship feels stronger and better than ever before.
I hope things work out the way You want it to Joseph.
I’m so sorry Joe. 20+ years is one hell of an invesment to have go down the crapper. My heart goes out to you and I pray that the stabilization of your life comes smoothly.
Hello there big fella, sorry to hear of your situation, chin up and all that.
Joseph you are welcome to come stay with us for a while, maybe it will get your pipe making career off the ground, I do hope you get your G chanter when you get back to Florida.
Again, so very sorry that you have joined the ranks to which I joined of late… and you would think that I would have been playing the hell out of the pipes after my separation and then divorce over the past year and then some… but no - the emotions and legal bs gets in the way.
Hang in there my friend… we should start a(n) Uilleann Piper Divorce Support Group as i suspect the pipes themselves lead to more than one separation (mine partially included)…
Go UPDSG!!!
Seriously, my heart goes out to you. At least you do not have kids to fight for, or in my case, to fight to remain in their lives… thanks to bitter ex-spouses.
I can certainly understand as my ex left me after 21 years too, but I had two boys to worry over as well.
The stress of losing my job and finding out her plans about leaving me on the same day triggered my Crohn’s disease (which is still plaguing me) as well.
Damn! Not good!.. but hopefully it will turn out for the best (whatever the heck that happens to turn out to be).
Get your head on straight, my friend, and decide what you want now. Look at your own contribution to whatever happened and be honest with yourself about what was your fault and what was not, and learn those lessons, then get on about getting on with your own life.
Remember - Every cloud has a silver lining… especially if you remember to carry your own can of spray paint!
hey Joseph sorry to hear that.I had exactly the same experience after I went and bought a hoose up here in Alba and I noticed that my partner wasna too keen on packing,in fact didnae do any at all..ho hum.But let me reassure ye ol buddy there is life after seperation.Sure ye will feel miserable at times and the pain will be sore but it will pass.
Two facts ..yesterday did exist but doesnae now and tomorrow doesna exist at all,so don’t let either ruin today which does.All the best ,
Slán Go Foill
Uilliam
Welcome to the club, Joseph. It is a very common thing with the baby boomers right now. I got you beat, however. Last year I ended my 29 yr marriage. It is a difficult process. You will be changed forever by it. But it can be a good change - for the better. Someone once said to me “Do you know why divorce is so expensive? … because it is worth it.” In my case, that was certainly true. I knew things were going south when my wife said to me (a few years ago)… “Gosh, if you really loved me, you would sell those damn uilleann pipes”. Guess I didn’t love her enough.
I know the pipes didn’t break up our marraige…but they were “one more thing” that added to the strain. In retrospect, it was a good thing…it needed to be done.
Hang in there, you’ve got a group of folks rootin’ for ya.
Thanks everyone, for your kindness and well wishes, they mean very much to me and I am overwhelmed by your empathy.
It’s looking very much like I will be able to return to Florida thanks to the generosity of floggingjason who has selflessy offered to shelter me in St. Augustine. This act may very well have saved my life… and that is not an overstatement.
Thanks also, for tolerating my sharing this messy stuff with you. I probably shouldn’t have posted about it here but under the circumstances, I didn’t know what else to do.
And finally, thanks to Patrick Cole for adopting a J. Kennedy B chanter. It has brought my return to Florida a good deal closer to being realized.
Party Feckin’ Time!!! 
Not good!.. but hopefully it will turn out for the best (whatever the heck that happens to turn out to be).