Advice for older long term poly folk

Dutchess62

New member
Hello All ,
I am back from California ( read my intro post if you need ) and I want to thank everyone who left condolences , just said they were sorry or saw this was an issue that needed to be talked about and in some instances needs to be on paper and notarized .
As some know my legal husband (15 yrs) and I lost our partner of 10 years at 53 in his sleep while in LA seeing his mom .
Since I wrote his sister intervened and I WAS able to go to the funeral . She reminded mom that they rarely saw him but that we were who he loved and were his "tribe" . My husband still could not go but one of us was better than none .
I am glad I went but it was very hard to grieve . I did get to see him but it was not easy . Strangely his mom came to me and asked if I would dress him and we did .
He was such an androgynous beauty in life - he dressed as a man , a woman or something in between but she had him in a suit . This was our first time to
meet as well . She ( with sister at the helm ) let me put his favorite flowers, pics of us and some of my hair and jewelry in with him, his Valentines and birthday gifts. His birthday is the 21st of Feb .
He had wanted to be cremated and mixed with us but that wasn't going to happen .
I walked into the middle of a old time snake handling revival and I made it through . K would have FREAKED if he had known . I was introduced as his "friend who loved him deeply " and was in really deep terrible grief. the sky was beautiful where he grew up and became a skier in the Sierra's and it was a
pretty day. This was good because
whoever she had come do the service did not talk about K at all but about the pastors short lived MLB career ??? and yes of all the horrors singled me out of the family section and attempted to make me come up and "Be saved". I refused . Then he threatened I would never see him again if I did not ... I could not make this up . I kept my eyes on K's casket and powered through . Funeral director must have been watching closely , he let me stay all the way through , until it was he , I and the backhoe man. Then we buried him . The FDirector had me come over before we rolled the lawn part back out and had me get in
the loose dirt and put my hand prints over his heart. He knew I was not his "friend", thought the saving thing was an awful scare tactic and I am grateful he let me do this. It was a country cemetery in Cal so the rules were loose .

If you are in any poly relationship and are older or know it will probably be for life please put what YOU want in writing and have it notarized , everyone should really but it really hit home here . Without the sister we would have been totally out with professional mourners from his moms church . Apparently.

We are now trying to get used to the new normal and find a comfortable place to be able to live with this , He was so tough I really thought he would be the last of us to go . Don't know if we will have another partner . He was one of a kind and we took our family very seriously . His mom gave me all of his things that were even remotely femme that he kept or had with him and some things that weren't . He left me some beautiful things material and non material . He left my husband some beautiful things as well . Same with my 17 yr old who he raised since she was of course 10 . We all miss him terribly . I am literally ill in bed still . I think alot of it is the shock .
Myself-Straight 55 yr poly girl
Legal husband- Gender fluid 54 yr old
Our "Other Husband " androgynous almost 54 yr old 1964- 1/29/2018
 
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I am so sorry for your loss. And so glad for the sanity of his sister and the funeral director. Huge, huge hugs from all of us here- we feel your love and your pain. He sounds like an absolutely wonderful human being. And religious bully g at a time of loss is so despicable as to be unthinkable. It sounds like a blessing in disguise your other husband was ‘r there, but how hard for you to be without his support, and how hard for him not to be able to be there. You are in my thoughts.
 
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Thank you for checking in, Dutchess.

My brother is current sexton (basically manager but also technically sheriiff) of the cemetery here. I've known him to stay long after his hours to talk with a stranger over the grave of someone he barely knew, as did our Dad before him. I'm glad you had someone there who could act as magister templi.

You have been fortunate to have had such a partner.
 
Dutchess, I am so, so glad you got to attend the funeral after all and take part in some of the rituals associated with the burial of the man you loved so deeply, and that you were allowed to return home with some of his belongings which I'm sure you'll treasure.

Thanks also for sharing some words of wisdom with our online poly community. I will be sure to heed them, as my own polycule is currently at a similar age and situation that you three found yourselves in.

I hope you and your husband will find healing in the future.
 
Oh my goddess, that snake handler ceremony sounds just surreally insanely awful. Talk about compounding your grief! I'm glad you got some private meaningful time at the end. sigh...

I am so glad that despite that kind of upbringing, your beautiful androgynous husband was able to express his gender identification with his partners and in his life.

I don't know you but I feel a kindred spirit. I'm a cis woman, gender queer, my partner is a transwoman, most of our friends are queer in some way, poly and pansexual, bi or gay... Though a few are straight and only kinky haha
 
I am glad the sister and the funeral director were understanding and you were able to go.

The snake handling and being put on the spot -- I'm sorry you had to go through that.

If you are in any poly relationship and are older or know it will probably be for life please put what YOU want in writing and have it notarized , everyone should really but it really hit home here . Without the sister we would have been totally out with professional mourners from his moms church . Apparently.

Yup. That's important to have done. Any time you hit a major milestone -- turn 21, get married, have kids, get divorced, have grandkids, sell property, etc? That's time to update your affairs so if you go then, all the things are updated and current.

I hope you are able to get some rest and in the coming time are able to start to heal. It's terrible to lose someone, and I can only imagine what it is to lose a spouse.

hugs
Galagirl

It's not like you do it once and that's it. It's doing it over
 
Ugh...I have been to more than one funeral where the "minister" didn't know the deceased and made it all about themself and their agenda. I felt so bad for my daughter at her mother's funeral that I wanted to step up and punch the guy. But I digress...

I'm sorry you had to go through that. I hope you take some solace in the fact that at least you were there to see him through it.
 
Hi Dutchess62,

I'm very sorry for your loss. And I'm sorry you had to endure that weird funeral service! I guess it's still better than not being able to be there, thank goodness his sister intervened on your behalf. Good on the funeral director too.

I know the road to healing will be long and rocky, and never really complete. There will always be a hole/hurt in your heart where K used to be. Hold tightly to the love you share with your husband, cling to each other as you struggle to heal. I hope this forum can be of some small help to you. A sympathetic, listening ear.

Regards,
Kevin T.
 
Dutchess, thank you for sharing your story. I am so sorry.

Last year a close friend of mine died suddenly from an aneurysm at age 47. She was largely estranged from her parents, but she had no will or other directives, so they were her legal next of kin. They held a private funeral and did not inform or invite any of her friends.

I found out about her death through her mother's somewhat cursory Facebook post about two weeks after it had happened. She was gone and buried by then. I did not get to say good-bye.

I reached out to her parents but they refused all contact or offers of help. They hired a company to clean out her apartment as quickly as possible and gave away her pets. They did not give her mementos to anyone. I have nothing of hers, hardly even any pictures.

Her friends and I managed to connect over Facebook (I did not know most of them) and we planned our own memorial service a month later. We went to a park on a beautiful summer evening, set up pictures of her, lit candles, played music, and talked about our friend.

It was very meaningful and allowed us to feel some closure. I hope you might be able to do something similar for your husband.

The saddest thing about my friend's death was that she had been lonely and unhappy in her life. She never got to find the partner or partners that she wanted. She struggled with so many things. Despite the support of her friends, she felt an acute lack of love in her life, and she was never able to find happiness in herself.

I am so glad that your husband had you and your other husband. It sounds like he must have had a difficult childhood and a hard "journey" into finding his true self, but that he emerged happy and awesome and gender fluid and loved.

He is so lucky that he met you and found his true family and lived with great joy.
 
Again thank you to everyone that read this . and Meera I can understand that . They just now messaged me asking about 3 big diamonds and a loose ring that I found in that purse that they missed . The box had my name on it and it was for me . I could tell what stones where in it . Two big round cut diamonds and a fairly good sz cut pink one and a round cut ruby. He was always wanting me to try out a pink one . Now they are asking if I have seen them after 8 years of not talking ( sister ) or seeing him one time a year ( mom).

Yes he had a horrible childhood , He was very handsome/beautiful but was also sort of effeminate so you know how that went in 70's Mammoth Mountain & Los Angeles. Not good . His mom is like a man in drag and very dominating .

I am happy this may make some people really take stock of their lives and what they want . Especially in such relationships that are not accepted very well by alot .
I say I don't know if we will ever have another partner because he was my and probably OUR one big love that alot of people never get to have in any kind of relationship ..

You all are right , we were really lucky to have found K and I don't think we will get over it , we will eventually find a comfortable place to LIVE with it. This happened naturally with no thought . We just knew we were all meant to be together .
No one was ever left out of anything and if anyone felt jealous we fixed it asap, we all just effortlessly melded into one .

10 years is a long time with anyone
 
You have many memories of K you can treasure.
 
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