All apologies...
After nearly 30 years of being together, after 25 years of being married, it's all over.
My mother called me late last week to tell me that she's leaving my dad. I guess I always thought it would come to this, but at the same time I thought it would never come to this. God knows it took them long enough. My mom told me she was turning 50 this year, and the idea of another 25 years married to my dad was too much to take.
The signs were all there: the screaming matches, one parent disappearing for a few days, the tension. Amanda and I only saw parts of it, mostly because my mother went to great lengths to shield us from it. Still, it didn't quite work, and I resent the hell out of my parents dragging this out for so long. My dad had made it clear to my mom that he didn't want to stay married to her as long as six years ago, but she put it off so that me and Amanda were out of the house when this happened. My father's been pulling a Jekyll and Hyde act for years now, berating or ignoring her in private, and agreeable and complimentary towards her in front of us. I had no idea this kind of duplicity had been taking place until my mom told me about a letter he'd wrote her around New Years' in which he detailed everything he hated about her (she's fat, she's a lousy wife, etc...).
My dad took me out to dinner back at the beginning of February and called me during Reading Week, and he never hinted at any problems at home. He's in Vegas now on a business trip, but since he doesn't bother telling my mom when he's coming or going anymore, she doesn't know when he'll be back. He has no idea about my mom's decision, so the shit has yet to hit the fan in that respect. I don't know what to think of him anymore. In spite of all the violence and emotional abuse he's directed at us, he's still my dad, and my mom's made it clear that she doesn't want Amanda and I to end our relationship with him. I just don't know who he is anymore.
Now I'm wondering exactly what the hell I'm going to come back to in May, whether I'll have a home at all, whether my dad's going to yank his financial support for me and Amanda since we're both over 18 (throwing next year into jeopardy). I just know that 25 years of hurt and anger are going to come out in the next little while, and it's not going to be pretty.
My mother called me late last week to tell me that she's leaving my dad. I guess I always thought it would come to this, but at the same time I thought it would never come to this. God knows it took them long enough. My mom told me she was turning 50 this year, and the idea of another 25 years married to my dad was too much to take.
The signs were all there: the screaming matches, one parent disappearing for a few days, the tension. Amanda and I only saw parts of it, mostly because my mother went to great lengths to shield us from it. Still, it didn't quite work, and I resent the hell out of my parents dragging this out for so long. My dad had made it clear to my mom that he didn't want to stay married to her as long as six years ago, but she put it off so that me and Amanda were out of the house when this happened. My father's been pulling a Jekyll and Hyde act for years now, berating or ignoring her in private, and agreeable and complimentary towards her in front of us. I had no idea this kind of duplicity had been taking place until my mom told me about a letter he'd wrote her around New Years' in which he detailed everything he hated about her (she's fat, she's a lousy wife, etc...).
My dad took me out to dinner back at the beginning of February and called me during Reading Week, and he never hinted at any problems at home. He's in Vegas now on a business trip, but since he doesn't bother telling my mom when he's coming or going anymore, she doesn't know when he'll be back. He has no idea about my mom's decision, so the shit has yet to hit the fan in that respect. I don't know what to think of him anymore. In spite of all the violence and emotional abuse he's directed at us, he's still my dad, and my mom's made it clear that she doesn't want Amanda and I to end our relationship with him. I just don't know who he is anymore.
Now I'm wondering exactly what the hell I'm going to come back to in May, whether I'll have a home at all, whether my dad's going to yank his financial support for me and Amanda since we're both over 18 (throwing next year into jeopardy). I just know that 25 years of hurt and anger are going to come out in the next little while, and it's not going to be pretty.