No one in my family or in Len’s family ever got divorced. There was no precedent for it. Besides, I loved Len and having to put up with his difficult nature was not enough of a reason for me to cut and run. I viewed him as a cactus flower, prickly to get close to but full of heart if the needles didn’t get you first.
I thought he had some good qualities. He worked hard and provided well for his family. When he was able to put work aside, he could be funny, witty and clever. If there was big trouble brewing like when Joel was falsely accused of shoplifting in New Canaan, or when my mom needed a psychiatrist pronto because she was in a psychotic meltdown, or when we were in Indonesia and found out Adam had had an emergency appendectomy and we needed to get a flight home ASAP, Len always came through when no one else could. He helped minority business owners, doling out free advice and setting them up with corporate contacts to help their businesses flourish. He won awards for this. He helped young entrepreneurs learn skills to create sound healthy businesses. He was committed to immigrant business students, helping them overcome language and cultural issues so they could become more competitive. He helped his brother-in-law switch careers from teaching to IT work when he was in a financially perilous situation. He bought his parents a condo so they could be close to family in New Jersey. He had a good sense of humor and could laugh at himself.
I thought he had some good qualities. He worked hard and provided well for his family. When he was able to put work aside, he could be funny, witty and clever. If there was big trouble brewing like when Joel was falsely accused of shoplifting in New Canaan, or when my mom needed a psychiatrist pronto because she was in a psychotic meltdown, or when we were in Indonesia and found out Adam had had an emergency appendectomy and we needed to get a flight home ASAP, Len always came through when no one else could. He helped minority business owners, doling out free advice and setting them up with corporate contacts to help their businesses flourish. He won awards for this. He helped young entrepreneurs learn skills to create sound healthy businesses. He was committed to immigrant business students, helping them overcome language and cultural issues so they could become more competitive. He helped his brother-in-law switch careers from teaching to IT work when he was in a financially perilous situation. He bought his parents a condo so they could be close to family in New Jersey. He had a good sense of humor and could laugh at himself.