Dear Laurie:

It is not wrong of you to be “laughing  little” about his misery. It is natural to feel some joy over the misery or misfortune of someone we are angry at. It is automatic and it happens quickly, I feel  it too, when angry at someone and imagining them unhappy, it makes me smile. Before I know it, there is that smile.

We can’t and shouldn’t try to stop feeling anything we do because we are not bad people for feeling anything at all that we feel. It is our behavior that determines being a good or bad person at any one time, not our feelings.

I suppose then that you do know the meaning of that short text he sent you. Maybe he really was trying to send you a Rescue-me message. I sure hope you don’t attempt to do that!

anita