Divorce and Death and Dating

I've been thinking about my divorce, final back in 1989.  My ex and I had an argument, nothing new, five years married and we spent 2, maybe 2 1/2 years together.  She always wanted to fight.  I would go to leave and she would attack me, usually with a weapon.  This last argument, I split for a few days.  She moved out of the house and took everything.  Even my photo albums, pictures of my grand parents, everything.

I decided, what the hell, I cleaned up the house and rented it out.  Then I moved in with my mother until I could find someplace else.  My ex flipped out and dropped the kids off with my mother one day when I was at work.  I guess she expected me to chase her down and ask her to move back,  Really?

Okay, I had physical custody.  Now what?  To make a long story short she filed for divorce, tried to convince the court I had kidnapped the kids from her, made up a bunch of lies and then she and her boy friend got ripped off on a drug deal so they fire bombed a house.  The wrong house and they killed two old women.

Theoretically, if the cops end up letting someone go because of insufficient evidence it isn't supposed to count against the arrested person in a custody battle.  Realistically, if you murder someone in the middle of a custody battle you have pretty much lost.

My ex was a psycho, but, in a lot of ways she had a really good heart.  We threw a Christmas party for my family and she made custom Christmas stockings for everyone, the Jewish people had Menorahs and Stars of David and stuff.  It was a blast.  She could be really great, sometimes.  Other times she was as psycho as she was nice.  Bi Polar maybe?  Who knows, she was a total psycho, but, sometimes she could be really great.

Fast forward to 1994 and the kids want to go live with their mother.  That is another long story, with a bad ending because I let them and my son ended up dead.

Through all that I worked hard at going from drop-out to machinist to tool maker to engineer.  Then I got sick, my heart crapped out.

Lots of baggage and I thought I was dealing with it okay, did some grief counseling, going back to school, etc.

The woman I was dating recently really did a number on me.  I am really vulnerable between the day my son died and his birthday, essentially the month of January.  I don't usually go out New Years because he died on the 29th.  This year I did and I had a pretty good time, even if I was dying inside.  I always am around that time of year and I need to deal better with his death.

As psycho as my ex-wife was, she wouldn't have hurt me the way this last woman did.  She may have wanted to, but, my ex would never have, never did, rip my heart out the way this last woman did.  My ex can be pretty ruthless, but, more in a physical way (we share that trait), causing people emotional pain for pleasure is just wacked.

So, am I really ready to date?  No.  I screwed up.

But it taught me a lot and I am always happy to learn.  I learned I have a lot more to deal with over the death of my son, my wife and even some others like my mother.  I have to learn to deal with the loss of a career I worked hard at.  Lots of loss and I really suck at dealing with loss.  You'd think by now I would be an expert, but, I'm not.

I'm good at keeping going when everyone else quits.  I will keep working on something, "beating a dog to death" until I make it work.  Not a real dog, a figurative "dog" of a project.  So I end up being credited with doing things people have failed at, the "impossible".  Only, I can't do that any more.

So, here I am.  Not getting any affirmation from women.  Not getting any affirmation from work.  School is cool, but, it is kind of boring.  It drags...goes so s l o w...

In fact I am not getting any affirmation from anywhere, except God.  God is doing some very cool things that have really made my life better.  Recently I had a small windfall where I bought some new hiking boots and gave some money to the church so the youth group could go to a Christian concert.  The concert was kewl, but, only three youth and fifteen adults went.  I paid for a bunch of adults who have more money than I do.  Good trails are a ways away and I couldn't afford the gas to go, but, got another small windfall and spent some gas money driving out to the Poto today.  Good walk.


Now, I know no one really dies.  I don't mean I think, I mean I really KNOW that no one really dies so my son and my wife and my mother and everyone else is okay.  So why am I so freaking sad about all that?  Selfishness?  No idea.  I don't get it.  I don't understand where the tears come from, or why I miss Billy and Lisa and my mom so much.  It makes no sense to me.

But, this is what I know.  I need to learn how to deal with this emotional grief schtuff way the frick better.  If I hadn't been so vulnerable, ms. "I love you but you made a snide remark", would never have gotten to me.  Especially since I knew she was lying and cheating.  I mean, WTF is wrong with me that I go off the deep end for someone I know is lying?

Stupid.

I wouldn't even have sex with this woman, I used to let my little head do the thinking and I didn't this time and got burned.  WTF.

I need about a hundred hits of mesc, a motorcycle and around 5K for a road trip.  By the time I got home in a month I would be so burned out that it wouldn't matter what had happened because my brain would be so scrambled I wouldn't care anyway.  By the time I recovered and got straight I would be beyond caring.

But, I ain't doing squat where I can pick up enough benjamins for all that and even if I was I probably wouldn't.  Probably.  Besides, what would I do with the dog?  It would be dangerous to take him riding on a motorcycle while I'm on mescaline.  It would be so nice cruising down south though....coping trails from all the lights....totally happy no matter what.  LSD would be better if I could get some without the strychnine...

Never had a bad trip, would I with all this grief crap?

So, stoned out road trip is out of the question.  I just got to suck it up and get on with life...except for the whole grief thing.  I tried the "suck it up" bit.  It has been 15 years.  WTF?  Still dealing, or not dealing, with it.  So what is the next step?

No clue, but, I can never be thankful enough to God for bringing the narcissist into my life to make me realize how F'd up I really am right now.   The one thing I am sure of is that now that I realize how F'd up I am over all this death crap God can work with me to straighten it out.

God is good, even when life isn't.