Well, here I am, wallowing in one of those moments that every mom dreads. We all know it’s coming, but deep down we hope it never does. I’m talking about my son’s first real heartbreak.

He has been dating The Girl In Question, henceforth referred to as TGIQ, for about a year and a half now. I like her a lot, I would have been perfectly happy to have her as my daughter-in-law had things worked out. But, he is 18, she is 16, and we don’t belong to some weird religious cult that hides out in the desert, so I knew were this was going. I was routing for them, there actually was a couple I went to school with who started dating at 13, and, as of the last reunion I attended, they were still together. Unfortunately it seems not to be for The Son and TGIQ.

I had a bad feeling that the death knell was when The Son graduated, leaving TGIQ alone at the high school were they met. (She’s 2 years behind him) She had been complaining about being lonely, never a good sign. The Son communicated with her constantly via text message, but that was no substitute for actual physical presence.

I remember when I lost my first love, a boy whom I shall refer to The Jerk because he dumped me for another girl, and lied when confronted about their “friendship”. Not that would have made me feel better anyway. But he was total jerk about it. (I later heard that he admitted to another one of my exes that he treated me poorly, but since that was via grapevine, I’m not sure how reliable it was.)

So it seems The Son has fallen victim to a similar scenario. The Daughter tells me TGIQ has been hanging out with Some Other Dude, who, she informs me, is noted for not treating females particularly well. Oh, swell, couldn’t TGIQ at least have dumped The Son for some really cool guy? But, SOD has one big advantage over The Son, he’s there.

The Son is handling his heartbreak with a minimum of fuss. He’s a born engineer like his mother, and his grandfather. Stiff upper lip and all that. I know he did spend most of last night on the phone with TGIQ, but I think it was to no avail. He claims they will remain “friends”.  The Jerk and I swore the same thing, and well, it didn’t work out too well once I discovered he lied about the other girl. But, I shall hold my tongue, and let them figure it out. They need the experience.

Funny, one of the things I remember most about my break-up with The Jerk is how I felt my mom did not have my back, how she calmly shrugged off all my teenaged angst. I thought it quite heartless at the time, and I still think she could have been a bit more sympathetic, I do appreciate her perspective on the situation. She was right, I did get over it, I did move on, and I did find another guy. Because I didn’t really appreciate hearing all that at the time, I don’t think I will say anything to the The Son except, “Sorry to hear that”.

I do wish he would let me give him a big old hug, though.