As a young woman, I had a child with a guy. The relationship didn't work out, but we remained cordial, even though I'd moved from GA to TX. He eventually met and married another woman; we'll call her T.

T would call me incessantly, telling me I need to let my child see her father (neither of us made an effort to pay the costs of a ticket to send her to visit, but we were constantly on the phone so it didn't seem a big deal). T insisted I was just jealous of her because they were married and he didn't marry me…that I was mad because I couldn't have my ex, and so on. He and I really were just friends.

1998, out of the blue, they just showed up in Texas to pick up my daughter for the summer. My daughter was 6 at the time, I asked if she was okay with spending the summer away from me and she said yes, she was excited to go with her daddy.

So, she went to GA for the summer, and all was well…except now the calls got worse. T would call to tell me she was going to keep my daughter, I wouldn't see her again and that they would raise her together. My ex tried to stay out of it but enough.

I drove to GA, and left - with my ex and my child.

I didn't really want him, but I wanted to prove a point. It was hilarious when she'd call after that, especially when she made her final call. She broke, and begged, “Please send back my husband. I'm so sorry, Please give me back my husband. I love him…blah, blah.”

I ridiculed her, told her things about our sex life, then screamed at her to “leave me alone, I told you don't F with me! You kept doing it. This is all you! You did this to yourself. Leave me the F alone”.

When he offered to divorce her to marry me, I declined, convinced him he had it good, drove back to GA, dropped off her husband, and came back to TX, feeling pretty smug. She never called me again.

Fast forward, Christmas Eve 2006. Brand new baby from my brand new husband, the love of my life. He walked in the door, and blindsided me when he said, “I'm leaving you, blah blah". I begged him not to go, but he was determined. He left to be with my best friend, W.

I wad angry, and desperate, and devastated. At one point, I couldn't take anymore, and picked up the phone. At the exact moment the words were coming out of my mouth, I could see T's face. The words coming out if my mouth sounded exactly like the words coming out if hers way back in 1998. I could hear her voice as I said, “W, Please give me back my husband. I love him…”

At that moment, she laughed and told me to get off her phone. I did. My heart was palpatating and I knew exactly what just happened. I sat there for what felt like eternity, realizing that karma just slapped me. Hard. I threw wicked into the universe…and even though my intentions were simply to stop the harassment, the universe simply saw the hurt I'd caused, and threw it back.

I don't think T ever thinks about me. I think about her constantly. She is my reminder that everything I do should be governed by how I'd feel if the universe threw it back at me. Because it will, someday, in someway.