That feeling when...

The interaction is brief and, almost, pleasant. If not that, at the least civil. You think that the boundaries are working. That your time and role are being respected. Then you giggle. Because all that therapy and life experience tells you it's simply because they got their fix and are celebrating their supposed win.

Being raised by someone with narcissistic tendencies is nothing compared to co-parenting with one. The only benefit being, I'm not starting from scratch. Adjust expectations and recognize patterns. Lean into successful therapeutic resources and employ the newer ones. I've been here before. I've survived. 100% success rate thus far.

And, ultimately, as I said to a friend, I need to stop looking for any presence of the person I married. He is gone.

Her response: Gone. Gone. Long gone.

That makes me sad. But not enough to let my guard down or raise my expectations. That woman is gone now, too.