All Comments on 'Grace'

Jack, its nice to read a story like this. The contrast between the two women is very nicely drawn.

A actual loving wife tale, how wonderful. A man learns thru his mistakes and the mistakes of the woman he is married to. Finds a real wife and enjoys the rest of his life with a mate, a soul mate. Nothing else in life matters!

This is one of the stories that rings true. As an avid reader I compliment you on the technical side of the story, it just flowed.

Back in 1985... the husband says this

...." Throughout this period, we partied pretty good, but nothing too wild. We'd smoke pot on a fairly regular basis, and occasionally, we'd spring for some coke, hash or LSD...."

what the fuck? THAT is NOT hard drugs ? Coke isnt hard stuff ? LSD isnt? since when? what sort of fuckd up values are those?

Non oen who has e ver done any druges as a teenager or into the WILD 20s could ever say LSD is not a hard drug

I think we have serious character flaw here

The time line is silly unbelieveable and very CONTRIVED

and ruins the whole story... for me.

the husband as USUAL is a moron and the time line makes NO sense at all (I mean when is the husband NOT a total fuckwad in the Lit stories LW categories?)

Consider .... from the story

1989, when Allison was 3 and Robert was 4, that Elise decided to go back to work...

NY eve party 1989-90

..."I must have been down for a couple of hours, when one of their teenage daughters rustled me out of her room. I kind of staggered into the den, looking for my wife, but she was nowhere in sight. ..."

then the guy heard sounds of sex from another room..

so wifey is working with drugs dealers... she gets very horny when stoned... he cant find his wife... yeah that just fine... sure No problem

..."The first real sign that things were changing came in the spring ( APRIL?? MAY??) . Elise went to get her hair cut one day and came back as a blonde. I also noticed that she was losing some of the weight she'd put on having the children, although I didn't see her on any diet or workout program that would cause weight loss..."

(er NO... the 1st real sign of trouble was the NY's eve party with drug dealers and the husband assertion that LSD isnt a hard drug)

..."It was in mid-July when she came home around 2 in the morning and I watched her while pretending to be asleep. I watched her pull her dress off, and I was shocked to realize that she'd been naked under her dress...."

what does the hubby do? Nothing!!!... waits until Next morning... (remember he was awake at 2am) but the wife gets the wimp to back down by saying "Are YOU having an affair?"

lets see.. at this point we have

the hair color and wardrobe changes

working & hanging out and partying with drug dealers... missing wife on NY eve party...

staying out to 2am on a regular basis...

then he she is naked under her dress...

and he backs down after asking 1 question?

WIMP WIMP WIMP WIMP

Ok now its 9 months later after NY eves party!!!. The hubby is so upset that he might stamp his little foot in outrage.

..."Around the end of September, I made a desperate effort to salvage our relationship. I caught Elise on a day when she was off, had her sit down and we talked. I told her I knew she was smoking pot a lot heavier than she ever had before, and I told her I suspected she was using harder

drugs as well...."

but coming home naked at 2am from a bar is OK? Guess oso b/c he never mentions it!!!. Notice the hubby does NOT say if you dont go through with this program I am a gone

12 Months after NY years party...

..."By December, I had enough circumstantial evidence that I was prepared to take the next step and get concrete proof. By then, our marriage was a joke...."

No this story is the Joke. Why does it take 12-16 months for the husband to geta clue?

Not everyone is superman. Most people are weak and make mistakes.

This story takes a man from his foolish youth to being a grown thoughtful, caring husband and father.

Bravo!

ROB CONNERS

One of the few great stores I've read in the last month or so. Congratulations, Jack,nice to read a story that makes some realistic sense and has a happy ending. 60 year old George

Less sex would have been good for the story.

The writer took three pages to do a synopsis of what might be a great story if the writer buckles down and writes it. Yes, he does stop the summarizing every once in a while to deliver some dialogue but on the whole, it's just a long summation of what happened to some guy over the span of several decades. The main character remains largely undeveloped and he is the one we know best. The wife is a caricature and the other creatures in the story aren't even two-dimensional.

In other words, writer, narrow your scope and write the story instead of telling us about the story. I trust you’ll see the difference.

Your writing has matured considerably through the years. Your last few stories, this one included, have been excellent.

I have seen people blame all of their troubles on others like Elise did. Your characters were very human and very believable.

Jack,

It must be the season but it's so refreshing to read positive stories that have happy endings. I agree with the comment that your writing has improved and your characters are more believeable.

As for the idiots who think that every happy ending is a story about a "wimp" husband, I'd say they've got more problems than some of the characters in these stories.

Please, more of the same.

This story takes me back to when i was in my 20`s in the 80`s but i remember when i was in high school in the 70`s with pot lsd and cocaine which i never took but I knew friends who did Elise did Jack but at least you learned a lesson to stay away when it came to getting back the children Jack i want to wish you a Merry Christmas and your whole family to.

Pat Murray

Atlanta,Ga.

beautifully written.

Good quality writing, as we've come to expect from the author. It's a pleasure to read a story without tripping over a typo every other sentence.

The characters are well-done and realistic, their actions consistent with their traits that the author shows us. We're introduced to Steve as a young man who's predictably horny and enticed by the lure of drugs and sex. He's not a genius nor a jock nor a superhero, just a guy who likes to party and get laid. The author does a fine job of showing us how life grinds Steve down, wears away his childish immaturity on the grindstone of responsibility and obligation. As a mature man, Steve makes a good faith effort to salvage his marriage, to try to save the woman he loves and it doesn't work. He accepts that Elise will never change and does what he must: he divorces her and gains custody of the children. Harry calls him a wimp (thrice over, I might add) but I think Steve isn't a quitter. That's what a wimp really is, someone who punts before it's fourth down. Steve gave the marriage his best shot and, when it was clear that Elise no longer cared about him, the kids or the marriage, he put the wheels of divorce into motion and ended it.

Elise is the impact character in the story. jack_straw shows who she is when she and Steve meet. She's young, impressionable, hot-tempered to a fault and not averse to sex with multiple partners before they marry. She clearly wasn't ready for marriage and parenthood and one senses her underlying dissatisfaction with her life. Her drug habit and sexual romps become her outlet for her frustrations and she becomes increasingly focused on satisfying her own base desires. What little concern she had for her family dissipates quickly and her marriage explodes because she's too wrapped up in herself to give up the drugs, the parties and the sex. She's not a likeable character and, while her death from AIDS is tragic, there's little sympathy for her at the end.

Grace's character is too perfect and it's my one criticism of the story. A past lover broke her heart so Grace has been gunshy of all men for years? It's possible, I suppose, but unlikely. A Grace who'd lived with two prior lovers in long-term relationships that just didn't work out is far more believable. In any case, I'm picking nits.

The plot is predictable but not uninteresting as the author tells it well. Steve's post-marital romance with Grace is little sugary but I'll accept it in the name of love. ;) The story's two central conflicts are nicely resolved. Steve's battle against drugs and alcohol is one and Elise's selfish infidelty is the other.

I can't imagine how jack_straw thought this story would be acceptable to Literotica readers. I mean, come on, the main character doesn't sport a foot long schlong with the circumference of a beer can and Grace has small tits *gasp* (lemme grab my measuring tape and scope those babies out; surely they're at least 34B's, aren't they? ;). And how come Grace doesn't come instantly when Steve touches her? She's supposed to, yah know. Goodness gracious, the police in this story actually arrest people who break the law and the criminals actually go to jail. What on earth is happening? I mean, really, jack_straw, you'd think these were real people or something. ;)

Excellent fiction this is. This 100's for you, jack_straw, for a story well-told. I thank you.

Well done !!

because my mom's name is Grace and she passed away this summer. Lovingly written, will become an instant classic. Good luck in the contest!

alvaron 53...

You saw my point WRT the timeline then you twisted it around... and I think you did so on purpose. You wrote

"As a mature man, Steve makes a good faith effort to salvage his marriage, to try to save the woman he loves and it doesn't work. He accepts that Elise will never change and does what he must: he divorces her and gains custody of the children. Harry calls him a wimp (thrice over, I might add) but I think Steve isn't a quitter..."

whoa whoa whoa there sparky I never called him a quitter. Steve isnt wimp b/c he is quitter..

he is wimpy b/c he is a COWARD. I mentioned the time line b/c the fact that it takes Steve a whole year to realize his wife is out of control AND finally does something ...is Just so unbelievable that the story goes right into the shitter.

Steven made a good faith effort to salvage his marriage? WHEN?? where?

lets see he sees his wife comes home at 2am drunk and or stoned with all her underwear missing. He asks about it the next morning -- not that night --- then she gets him to back down...

THAT is a good faith effort?

in sept steve FINAALY has a talk with his wife... she goes to counsellin for like two weeks rejects the drug rehab ...and Steve does NOTHING until Xmas 90-100 days later

Steve was / is a coward and that does make him wimp

I thoroughly enjoyed your story.

Boyd

Jack,

This is a great story. Brings back some memories like you wouldn't believe. Things never got as bad as your story, but could have very easily.

Actually, Harry, I didn't see your "point" about the timeline at all. I assume the teenaged daughter in question was a child of Mitch and Glenda's since the New Year's Eve party took place at their house. And somehow this causes the timeline to be contrived? I couldn't find anything that stated or implied that Mitch and Glenda were the same age as Steve and Elise. If jack_straw says that Mitch and Glenda had teenaged daughters, I accept it.

With respect to Steve's wimpiness, give it a rest. Wimps are happy to tolerate cheating but Steve doesn't. When he has proof of her infidelty and knows that she won't change, he divorces her. Does that sound like a wimp? No.

A very good ending. Sometimes one must fall through an abyss before they can climb the mountain.

Enjoyed this very much.

yep. What Alvaron said.

This story was well written and very readable. The plot was nice and fairly consistent. The nit-pickers criticize the time it took for the husband to take action, several call him a wimp. I suspect these individuals have a different idea of what love means. Clearly the husband loved his first wife and love means forgiveness. Also, when a marriage is failing but there are children, it is not easy to just walk away. Getting evidence against the other spouse takes time, at least a few months. I think the timeline was actually plausible. One small nit I might pick is our hero's decision to offer his wife aggrevated assault instead of attempted murder if she gives up the custody battle. This gets her 3-6 years in jail instead of 15. But there would be no custody battle if she were to get 15 years in jail, and I think most people would feel so betrayed at an attempted murder (which is really what it was, based on the testimony of the thugs) by someone they loved, they would prefer the 15 year sentence (let that person rot in jail) to a light 3 year sentence. Also, I think negotiations about sentencing would be done by the prosecutor through the district attorney's office, not the ex-husband. Despite this little "nit" it was a wonderful story. Keep up the good writing.

...story enjoyed all of it.

Mike from Texas

I enjoyed this story quite a bit. Wonderfully written and and a great story.

I can't understand the wimp crap. So, it took him a while to believe what he didn't want to know? Sounds pretty normal to me.

The old saying about the one cheated on is always the last to know is likey even truer in real life than in these LW stories.

Nice turn that Elise(?) realised her problem in the end.

Thanks Jack, a nice read - what more can we ask for, and all free too!

And, Harry, if you happen to read this, can you quote from the story where the guy says LSD and Coke are not hard drugs? I can find a bit where he calls them 'harder' drugs, but the bit where he says they aren't hard has manged to stay hidden fom me.

what a wonderful story. Since God is love, and these were surrounded by love...YEAAAAaaaa wonderful, thanks more please

I loved this story so much it made me cry. it made me think. I loved it!

You did well!

This story had all the elements a true "Loving Wives" story needs in my humble opinion. It had sex, violence, subterfuge, anger, outrage, lots and lots of love, rectitude, sel-realization, and finally forgiveness. And, more love!! And then, it also had LOVE!

Get it? Got it? GOOD!

... hat mich sehr beeindruckt. Mir fiel es schwer, nicht von meinen Gefühlen überrannt zu werden ... Nein, ich habe es nicht geschafft. Die Story hat mich einfach mitgerissen. Danke für die schöne Weihnachtsgeschichte.

*** Nucleus ***

The only words I can say are Wonderful.

You deserve more praise but it is not in my realm to possess adequate words.

Thank you

Peggytwitty

Good job; strawman, keep it up.

Another definition of grace is:

"beauty of form,movement, or manner"

and that describes the writing in this story. No matter the curves life throws us hope is always there if we are open to it.

Great story, Jack.

Regards

A terrific story of Steve's struggle to keep his marriage and family intact. Well told, especially since the loss he suffered along the way is ultimately redeemed by meeting and marrying Grace. One of this author's best.

Great sex, but rather trite, and a little to "preachy."

Very good story indeed...and my sympathy and pity for the individual who thought the story "a bit preachy." The best things in life don't go out of style, and those who think that a hard road followed by wisdom and contentment earned is a bit "preachy" probably needs preached to worse than anyone else. Either that or it's a case of pearls before swine, but either way, the author submitted a damned fine story and has earned his praise.

I love her!! Sorry, but I dig the bad..fun girls. Would love to see her resurface and not as some born again goody goody. I hope to see more of ELise some day..love your stories.

Jack, thank you for a really fine love story that was profoundly moving ad very touching. I think this is one of your best and you've written a lot of good ones.

Thanks for sharing your story, and how you found true love the second time around. :) Very nice read.

Unless warned in the title or first sentence, I rate all old folk stories 1*.

@Dear Dwornock you should have read this story before you told something. This married pair were young when the divorce happened!

5 stars!

if you can find them in your partner, YOU are a wealthy person. TK U MLJ LV NV

first, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. She chose to become a junkie, just because he gave her some weed doesn't make it his fault she became a junkie. The only mistake made by him was to put up with that shit for so long.

Huedogg

Great

Not only do we see grace in this story, but we also see a husband who truly tried to do everything to save his marriage. The offer to wipe the slate clean and start again was simply beautiful. Definitely an act of grace in and of itself. Wonderful writing and a finely crafted story. Thanks.

The crux of this story is focused on the trials of raising a family from the bowels of despair. Drug and alcohol addiction are presented in this story with enough description to give the reader a hint of its effects on a marriage and a family and the individuals. The writer stayed on focus of the central character and the movement forward away from his drug addicted wife. The story had a happy ending but it traveled through some very dark areas of life. The writer was highly skilled and demonstrated a definite command of the subject material.

This story resonated very strongly with me, so good that I've put it on my list of favorites even. I loved the up and downs in Steve's life and was glad about the happy ending.

My five star voting is well deserved I believe, but there's one thing where a small improvement could be made. Throughout the story we got to know his first wife very well with all her faults and demons, but I felt there's not enough to make Grace shine. You said that she's a nice lady with a sunny disposition and a talent with kids and all that, but where's the rest of her personality?

Aaddicts know only one thing : get theyr fix whatever the cost ,whoever they hurt,it just doesn't matter

From the very beginning we were told that Grace wasn't a stable person and that she (and him) was very attracted to drugs,there was from the beginning a lot of fighting and the only time they were close was when they both took drugs and he liked his wife being horny out of her mind because of it

I have been living with an addict for about eight years and i know one thing ,it takes an awfull lot of patience and love not to mention money and caracter to MAYBE get passed the addiction and get cured

When the guy tells his wife to choose : drugs or him he wasn't very realistic,an addict will in the end allways" choose" the drugs ,without psychological and medical help,the support of the family and friends it is close to impossible to get cured ,it is a long and very hard path for both the addict and theyr partner

Grace was not addicted to one drug,she was addicted to the high ,she took whatever to get high ,xtc,coke,hash ,cannabis and who was basically responsable for her addiction knowing that she had a very weak caracter? right the husband ! Allso i find it very hard to believe that he got out of the drugscene all by his own;in fact if you read the story you can tell that he was just as addicted as she was in the beginning

Five stars. Still a favorite.

....rather have heard about Elise more and what about Glenda? This loser husband was no better...PUH-LEAZE. Literotica readers want more of Elise, not a pathetic love story

Most of the story involves drug abuse yet no tags on this subject ? strange ........

because he tends to write about the human condition and the how complicated human emotions/behavior are. Liked this story except for the concept that MJ is a gateway drug. For several years I was the head of a drug program. We were also a clearing house for repeorting out drug studies. It has been proven conclusively that MJ is not a gateway drug, Moreover, it is useful in pain therapy and may help prevent the opiod addictuion epidemic. It has been proven effective as treatment in over 14 kinds of cancer. A second aside- Harryin VA must be a person who enjoys his own voice. Unless someone has a professional editor his comments on this story are rather arcane. To write as perfectly as he wants if takes weeks to edit so that plot and charcter have the seamless edgies he demands. He is so tiring at times.

About your comment about mj,i'd like to ask you a question and give you smth to think about,ask a thousand junkies with what they started theyr drug "career",i bet about a good 950 will answer with joints,pot,shit grass or whatever you want to call it,so how exactly did you prove what you claim to be true ?

When real studies are performed, not pulled out of the assess of angry, bitter, sad men on the internet like the ones who frequent this site, the overwhelming answer to the first drug most addicts start with is either tobacco or alcohol. Because they're far more readily available even when you're underage and they frequently have parents or other adults in their life who use them.

Interesting how guys who get so furious about pot never want us to take their several cans of bud light a day away, because those aren't drugs. What's the rate of death in this country from alcohol use again? Because it's astronomically higher than the rate of death from poor overdoses which are almost non existent. But then, beer is what real 'mercans dose themselves with to escape reality, while pot was for decades perceived as the drug of choice for blacks and hispanics. So of course /it/ was a moral crisis while alcohol prohibition was a massive mistake everyone agreed to back down from.

frontlinecaster finds a moment of lucidity and makes a cogent comment! I am impressed! Congratulations! I didn't know you had it in you. You have been so silent I feared you had been recaptured and once more resided within the halls of bedlam.

Maybe you have been self-medicating! If so, congratulations, again. Maybe the soothing effects of the demon weed are having a salubrious effect. Since the feds have ceased persecuting those who self-medicate, it seems there has been a sea-shift. 60 percent of Americans now favor legalization, according to the latest Gallup poll. FLC, you are in the mainstream!! What will you do in this newfound majority position?

And so close to real life. Went the way one expected, without the dramatics. 5*s.

to be in the wasteland of LW, but occasionally a pearl is cast before the LW swine. The prose is graceful, the plotting flows perfectly, and the writing is emotive.

and people wish to die in its State. TK U MLJ LV NV

I enjoyed it. Never saw the allure of drugs, and.Very seldom drink, so I have very little experience with.addiction. This was just a really good story.

Totally superb story!

Most people in the late teens experiment, its kinda hardwired into us as humans. I get taking responsibility for one's actions, but his kind of guilt is like Catholicism on steroids. It takes a real control freak to put that kind of guilt on his shoulders for years. I get that he might be responsible to introducing pot to his girlfriend when they were a kids, but he seems to think that without his exposure, she would have turned out like a angel. I highly doubt that, and the harder drugs is really what gets her into trouble, but alas he has to shoulder the blame for that as well. Cause.... I guess its a gateway drug. There are so many good points about this story, that I loved. Just didn't really get over the points that stuck out badly for me. Could have been a classic, but alas too many weak points that strung the story together.

Good story with a happy ending.

Another very good story from a talented author. I hate drugs.

A good story for the season, next I think I'll read 'A Home for Christmas' - its the season! Thank you for your stories Jack.

somewhere east of Omaha

ANOTHER WEAK CUCK WIMP WHO HAD THE PROOF, AND A TOP NOTCH LAWYER YET THE DRUGGIE WIFE STILL SCREWED HIM OVER TILL HE BECAME A PATHETIC DRUNK LOSER

Well done, one of the outstanding works here.

You only get workers comp if you’re injured on the job

Surely authors on this sight must realise that realise people don't ho to church. They are more intelligent and less likely to be taken advantage of by the charlatans who run churches. At least in civilised countries the only people who do go are the thieves, cheats and liars. The intelligent honest people avoid them like the plague.

Very well written, creative and moved quite well. You put a lot of story into a few pages, which means you planned the story layout well. Thanks for a good read.

Good story. Hard to understand the first wife, but heavy drug use can change a person.

i don't understand why all writers here have such a hard on for giving closure to these cheating hoes, she deserved to die alone and miserable

I'll never understand why some of the commenters are so dead set on never allowing closure? Did your mommy not love you enough? Maybe not enough hugs?

This asshole MC introduced Elise to drugs and assumed she moved passed it.....asshole cuck is wholly responsible for all shit by Elise