"Mom's Heartbreak"

This is when my Life changed... forever... I still think I am impacted by what happened this one Friday evening...

I was a freshman in college...  I had a friend-girl that was a senior in high school... I ran into her... she told me that there was a dance that coming Friday night... that she and her boyfriend had just broken up... and that she really wanted to go to the dance... and would I take her?

Of course I would... she was my friend... I liked dances... who wouldn't want to go...

So that Friday evening, I was getting dressed... Mom walked by the bedroom door carrying her laundry basket and she looked in and saw me... and said...

"You look nice tonight... where are you going?"

I told Mom about the friend girl and the highschool dance and all of that...  and Mom said... "That's sweet... who is she?"

And I told Mom the girl's name...

And Mom stood there... frozen... the blood drained from her face... she became so pale... and the laundry basket fell... And Mom stood there... and then bolted and started to cry in a manner in which I never heard my Mom cry again...

Of course, I ran after her... I wanted to see what was wrong... what was upsetting her so...

And Mom said to me... "Your Dad had an affair with that girl's Mom and....... "

And I don't know what... because everything got so confused... Mom was talking, but I wasn't hearing...

My Dad? My Dad had an affair on my Mom??  My Mom was the most wonderful woman in the world... never mind my own level of bias...

And then the hearing started to kick back in... "... and he threatened to leave us... to move to Texas with that woman and leave us..."  And Mom continued to cry...

Mom then says... if I had had somewhere to move after your sister was born... I would have left him...

Of course what this says to me is that Mom continued to live with this man and have sex with him... and have five more children... I wonder how difficult that was for her? I wonder how she was able to block out this hurt...???

Mom, being the gracious soul that she was... said..."take her to the dance... but please don't ever go anywhere with her again..."   And I made that promise to my Mom... of course, it wasn't the girl's fault... she probably didn't know either...

It wasnt until some years later... that I got to thinking... "Damn... what if this girl is my half sister?!?!?!?!

I never saw my Dad the same way again...  I was distant to him... cool to him... I wouldn't say I was mean... but he knew something was amiss... that something was wrong...

It took me a long time to forgive him... he was dying when i was able to reach a peace with him over this... I expected my Dad to be perfect... which of course, none of us are... I didn't expect him to hurt my Mom though...

This has been some 24-hour period... I've posted jokes... and have let out my pain in issues having to deal with my Family...

I need a drink...