My ex-husband and I never had any kids (reason #1 for the splitting up), so since we've divorced, I've had little to no contact with him.

His sister pretty much blamed the split on me because I left .. I never pursued trying to change any of his family's minds. I'm sure he told them whatever made him look the victim, despite the last year of constant fighting, disagreements, and his ultimate renege on our plan to have children.

Anyway .. his family was a little nuts to say the least .. but I always had a special bond with his sister's husband. He felt the same way about their family that I did .. and we were generally treated like outcasts; him worse than me (exMIL thought he "stole" her baby girl and literally hated him from day one).

I found out about an hour ago that he passed away this morning. He's been fighting cystic fibrosis his whole life .. he had a lung transplant about 5 years ago and has been in great health since. His wife and him have had 3 kids since then. He came down with a sudden case of the flu, and his body almost immediately rejected his transplanted lungs. By the time they could identify lungs for a new transplant, he was too sick to undergo the surgery.

I'm just sad to hear it .. I'm sad to think about what those 3 babies are going to go through. I'd like to reach out and express my condolences, but he was really the only one in that family that would have received it warmly.