Some background.  The wife is in a mixed racial marriage.  She’s from the Philippines, he’s a caucasian American.  They have children together.  The wife is friends with a neighborhood woman who lives across the yard.  This friend, we’ll call her Mrs. X, is always complaining about how bad her husband is.  She has even secretly plotted to divorce him but decided not to because her lawyer told her that her soon to be ex- would be entitle to half of the disability settlement.  The friend of the wife is a real dishonest sneak.  She’s not the subject of this question.

The wife told the friend that the family of her husband refuses to accept the mixed race children and won’t even call on their birthday.  This is patently ridiculous because the oldest son would spend the entire summer on several occasions living with the family, who are in another state.

The husband suspects that the wife lied to the scuмmy neighbor because after a party and after the clean up was complete, the scuмmy friend said to the wife, quietly so as not to draw attention to herself, “So, no one from the family called today?  That is so sad.”

Now, is the story-telling wife just trying to be friendly with the scuмmy friend?  Or is this a sign of real deception?  The wife is lying about the immediate family.  

Should the husband brush this off as the wife trying to tell stories so as to build a friendship with the scuмmy neighbor or is this a sign that something is profoundly wrong?

This is what I like about Catholic Info.

We're buffeted all week with heavy issues on the Faith, Politics and Economics.

Then, we can always find some cheap relief in the "Anonymous" tabloid section, with its soap opera postings.    :cool:

So is this Story Telling Wife married to the Pusillanimous Husband?

This is what I like about Catholic Info.

We're buffeted all week with heavy issues on the Faith, Politics and Economics.

Then, we can always find some cheap relief in the "Anonymous" tabloid section, with its soap opera postings.    :cool:

 

So is this Story Telling Wife married to the Pusillanimous Husband?

Lol!

Seriously though.  I think that you need to pray a lot for her and for yourself.  Talk to her as much as is beneficial to your relationship.  The rest of the talking should be between you and God, and then between you and a traditional Catholic priest.  You have some real issues in your marriage which need to be worked out.  It would be nice if eventually you can get to the point where you are telling her "YOU BE THE JUDGE!  Listen to what these people wrote on my traditional Catholic forum."  Until you get to that point in your marriage, you really need to pray a lot and go to confession, and get some counseling from your priest.  God bless and good luck.

I've seen this sort of thing before.

My take on it is the neighbor personally deeply dissatisfied and unhappy with life and is also jealous, probably doesn't pray even for a second but also is at least partially aware of her own sinfulness. Her discontent is eating her up inside. Such people have no problem 'economizing' with the truth. So she is trying to drag others down with her.

The mixed race marriage thing. That I have seen too, it's very common but in most cases the two families learn to accept and get along, with the usual grumbles that never seem to go away. The wife might have felt undertones of rejection or emotional coldness, or might be misinterpreting the in-laws' family culture and feel excluded, so possibly wasn't lying when complaining. She should have complained to her husband instead. Instead the situation has turned messy.

Secondly how do you know what you wife told her? Did you hear your wife, or was  this what the woman told you?

If your wife did lie that is very serious, especially about in-laws, I would not chalk it up to trying to build a friendship and would be cautious that she does not start lying about your treatment of her or the children.

~Tiffany

Simple deduction.  Where did the dirtbag neighbor get the idea to ask if in-laws who are a couple states away did not bother to call?  Only through the story-telling wife.

There is a lot of snivelling about the "YOU BE THE JUDGE" series.  What else do you guys study Catholicism and Moral Theology for?  Is there some Theology Jeopardy game out there that you all participate in?  Is it merely for bragging rights at your chapels?  Put that knowledge to use!  And "BE THE JUDGE"!

Where are all the holier than thou SV's????