What to call your Ex

I got divorced a couple of years ago and I have finally figured out what to do when refering to my ex-husband, before, during and after the marriage. Before we got engaged, he was my boyfriend. Then my fiance'. After the wedding it is husband. After the divorce it is ex-husband. But what do I call him when I am refering to a happening during the marriage and I am speaking after the divorce? Husband doen't sound right because now he's not. To say that I went somewhere in 1992 with my ex-husband and his family sounds awkward. Former husband is also an awkward term for me. First husband sounds like I am calling on a reserve of men lined up. I am not. I just want something that could refer to my spouse during the time we were together without sounding like we are very angry at each other or are still together. Husband-that-was comes close but can be confusing to outsiders. It also sounds like maybe he died. I have decided to refer to him as then-husband. "I went with my then-husband and his family to the Black Hills." Understand, I don't talk about him all the time, frequently, a lot or often. I just want to be able to refer to him on occasion. And now that I have figured out how to do it, I'll probably never refer to him again.

Travel and the Reclusive

I haven't traveled much in the last fifteen years. In my lifetime, I HAVE traveled to Mt. Rushmore,SD, Branson,MO, and Dollywood, TN. Before that I spent a weekend in Toronto, CAN, and made several trips to Chicago,IL, and Madison, WI. Now I am packing for a trip to the United Kingdom to visit London, Stratford-upon-Avon, the Lake District, Endinburgh, and Yorkshire. I am a person who has a hard time making it to family reunions in the same state in which I live. I believe travel is wonderful. People should do more of it and not just to relatives. Facing relatives at the end of your journey may not be enough incentive to pack up the family and the dog and the diabetic supplies and get off your personal duff. When I was a child, the only traveling done was to relatives' homes. Now people respond to advertising, to see world-famous theme resorts and Native Americans in their native habitats. Advertising drawa people out of their Laz-Z-Boys and onto the highways or flyways to witness NY Broadway shows, Las Vegas neon lights and sandy beaches newly-swept for medical refuse. Disappointment is built into every trip. Hotels too far from the beach, shows that don't entertain, unmanagable heat or cold, money draining away like storm water down a street drain, all contribute to the experience. I am very excited about my trip (forty-five years of English Lit preparing me) but I know I will get tired, frustrated, bewildered, and broke. Still I wouldn't miss it for the World. I have to have something to talk about to the other residents of the (future) nursing home.