When you look at Eric Forrester's life, and the people he was and is involved with, there is one person that is always there. It doesn't matter on which part of his life you are looking, there is that one person that sooner or later you'll bump into. A person that is always there in the background hovering like a shadow. And as you can never get rid off your shadow, Eric can't get rid off that person. That person is his ex-wife Stephanie Forrester aka The Old Hag.

Eric once said to Stephanie, while they were fighting over the divorce, that they started as friends. Well Stephanie is that kind of friend about whom you say that with such a friend who needs enemies.

Stephanie is an obsessed woman and Eric is the subject of that obsession. Stephanie doesn't love Eric. She never did. Although if you'll ask her she'll be more then happy to tell you that "she loves him, she never stoped loving him and she'll always will". Stephanie is in love with being Mrs. Eric Forrester and having him all for herself.

So in the name of her obsession Stephanie managed to ruin almost every relationship that Eric had with a woman, and take away from him every chance for happiness that he ever had.

Her list of successful capers consist of (till now that is):
1. Stealing Eric away from Beth by getting pregnant;
2. Breaking off his renewed love affair with Beth;
3. Breaking his marrige to Brooke (by lies, deception and forgery);
4. Getting 2 women to back away from Eric in difference for her - Taylor and Laurn, though the later got wiser and is back with Eric for the time being;
5. Losing the control of Forrester Creations to Brooke.

The only exception is Sheila who managed to destroy her marrige to Eric all by herself.

What amazes me the most is the fact that Stephanie doesn't care that Eric is getting hurt every time she meddles in his life. She is aware that the result of her meddling will be pain and heart break for Eric. But she simply doesn't care. All she cares about is the chance to get him back.

Stephanie isn't the only woman who didn't care about Eric getting hurt. Both Taylor and Laurn, the 2 women that dumped him for Stephanie's sake, didn't give a damn about him when they did it. Taylor wrote Eric a "Dear John" letter and disappeared. And Laurn told him to go even after Eric asked her "what about my feelings?".

Ironically the only woman who did stop to think about Eric, his feelings and wishs was Brooke (for a short while anyway), the woman who ended up hurting him the most (excpet for Stephanie that is). When Stephanie pleaded with her in the hospital (while Brooke was in labour with Eric Jr.) to choose Ridge, Brooke asked her: "What about Eric? What about what Eric wants?", and choose to stay with Eric.

Both Ridge and Brooke were too aware of the hurt and pain that Eric will feel if she will leave him for Ridge. They didn't want to be the cause of such pain (although in end they were, but that's another story). Stephanie on the other hand was more then ready to subject Eric to such a pain in the name of her holy cause - getting him back.

For a woman who claims to be totally and completely in love with Eric and to know him better then himself, Stephanie is totally clueless to the way Eric still feels about Brooke.

She should have heard the speech Eric gave Ridge (when Ridge decided to annul his marriage to Brooke and start a life with Taylor and Tommy) about how once you fall in love with Brooke and be loved by her, you will never be able to be over her and stop loving her.

Eric still loves Brooke and she will always be a part of him (no matter how much and how many times she will hurt him) because of those feelings and not just because of her being the mother of his children.

When it comes to Eric Jr. (Rick) & Bridget, Stephanie is at the pick of her insensitivity to Eric's true feelings. She had the nerve to tell Eric to his face that for the sake of Tommy being raised by his father (while she did her damnest to make sure that Eric Jr. will not be raised by his dad) and Taylor's happiness, it doesn't matter if his kids will be devastated

Last modified 19 February 1999