Memory Lane 21
And with this strip, I’m bringing my Memory Lane series of strips to a close.
When I started this story line, I had the intention of just touching on things really quick that had happened to me. But what happened was as I was remembering it all over again, I started looking more in depth at what was going on, and what was said. And what ended up happening has really just… wore me out. There’s a reason I had tried to forget all this, to try to block it all out. I realized that as I was making these, it was seriously starting to affect me in my personal life as well. I started becoming unhappy, so much so that my wife was noticing and was beginning to worry. I would spend my days and evenings at work just thinking about what I had gone through, remembering the pain and all the tears I’ve shed. And I hadn’t even written about everything that I was going to. Because I’ve been through much much MUCH more than this at the hands of my mother. But to keep going would drive me further into a depression, which is something I am desperately trying to avoid.
There’s a band my wife introduced me to when we first started dating, called New Found Glory. They’ve got a song called Tell Tale Heart, and there’s a line from it that goes, ”I’ve learned that time can heal your wounds, but the reminder of a scar will stay.” I really don’t know if I can agree any more. While some terrible things have happened to me, I’ve been able to use those things to shape me into the person that I want to be. Those constant reminders of what I’ve been through, help me stay on that path. I firmly believe in treating people the way you want to be treated. I do my best each and every single day to be positive and upbeat, and to be there for anyone who wants to talk. I’m sure I probably come across as happy-go-lucky quite often, sometimes obnoxiously so, but I really can’t help it. In the face of everything I’ve gone through, if I chose to be a negative person, then I’ve essentially let my mother win. And I refuse to let that ever happen.
I’m sure a lot of you are wondering about my current relationship with my mother. Well, there really isn’t a relationship between me and her at all anymore. The last time we tried to talk was through email about 6 years ago. She had found me through classmates.com after not speaking for about 5-6 years prior to that, and we had started talking a bit. Well, I decided that the only way I was ever going to be on okay terms with her again, would be if I confronted her with what she had done to me. She denied it all, and said I was making it up. If anything, she said that I was jealous of my brother, of all things. I don’t even understand that part. But anyway, me being the hot-headed 24-year-old that I was back then, I snapped and blew up on her when I wrote her back. With my face full of tears, angry that I had let her hurt me one last time, I wrote back the nastiest thing I’ve ever written. Among other things, I told her that I wished death upon her. To be specific, I said “I hope you die in a fire” to my own mother. And at that time, I meant it.
I regret ever saying that to her, despite what she put me through. Because I do not EVER want to be that kind of person. It disgusts me that I ever wished death upon anyone.
I’ve not had any contact with her since, and I don’t plan on ever having any contact with her again. As far as I know, she has no knowledge about this comic, much less that I have a son now. I do not wish for this to change, as I am happy this way: with her out of my life. Anyone who says different is full of it. I’ve no wish to ever make amends with her. I tried once, and it bit me in the ass.
Anyway, enough about my whole mess.
The biggest thing I wanted to do with this Memory Lane story line, was I really wanted to try to reach out and connect with other people who may have gone through the same thing. One of the biggest things I’ve always felt with all of this was that I could never totally relate to someone because of it. I always felt alone, isolated. The freakin’ weirdo in the bunch. I was always afraid that if I did say anything, that it would chalked up to “Oh well, that’s childhood for ya” and that it would seem like I was complaining about nothing. But the outpouring of support from everyone has been tremendous. I’ve talked to people who’ve suffered verbal, physical, mental, and sexual abuse at the hands of people who were supposed to protect them, and my heart goes out to all of you, and know that you have a friend in me. I finally feel that I’m able to deal with my past better than I’ve ever been able to in my entire life now. And I can’t thank you all enough for all the support you have given me. Just thank you all so much for everything said to me in email, over Facebook, and over Twitter. If it wasn’t for all of you, I would have definitely never kept this story line going for as long as I did. So thank you all so much for your understanding, patience, and support through this. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much <3
Well, I guess that about wraps up everything I wanted to say. Comments are now open again, so that’s pretty cool, yeah? :) I definitely want to hear from everyone and anyone who wants to share their story. I’m more than willing to listen, as you all have been so patient listening to me.
Also to everyone who has submitted question to my Ask Christopher page: I will get to them soon!! Some of you are so goofy with the questions, and I much appreciate the laughs delivered to me that way :D Soooo yep. And one more thing: I’ve got an announcement to make next week (hopefully on Monday) and I think it’s pretty awesome!!! See you guys back here next week!!
As always: Thank you all so much for reading <3
”Even nerves of steel deserve a breather, weight wears down the infrastructure. Hearts of gold can still feel lonely if they don’t know they’re not the only ones.” – Everybody That Loves You by Bomb the Music Industry
Thank you again for sharing all of this Chris! I am glad you did.
I gotta say man, this was a pretty rough read and it was even harder not being able to leave a comment, but I understand why you did that. I’m looking forward to future strips so please keep them up!
Jester
Chris, Thanks for sharing all this stuff with all of us. I want to continue to encourage you to deal with your past in the most positive way possible, and I think this series of comics was a very positive way to release those feelings. Talking (or drawing) about it definitely did seem to help you, and I am glad for you that you chose to make that step. I am very proud of you, dude. It takes a lot to break that line and not continue to let it run down the generations into your children and your children’s children. I was blessed enough to have two very physically abused parents who both made the effort to break that line of abuse with myself and siblings, so you might say I am the benefit of my parents making the decision to end the abuse and raise us the best that they could. Your son will get that benefit, and that is very exciting to me. Can’t wait to hook up soon. Huge blessings upon your family, dude.
I have to congratulate you, because of how you came out of this dark part of your life, and now you have a beautiful family, and they love you, and looking back you know you’ll never go back there :) I’mm sorry if I sound like the typical teenage girl that has a young and hopeful soul (?) but that’s what I am, and I feel proud… As for you, I really am glad that you can share your life and say “I won’t repeat that again”, which is great :)
By the way, there’s something I’ve wondering, How did you meet your wife?
gotta say, is my first time doing a comment in this web comic but this last arc is really something and what I find really great is the what you going to do for your son, he have a great father I have to say
Chris,
Very well done. Your ability to work through this and come out on top and stop the cycle of abuse show’s your strength, your true soul and how you’ve been able to learn from life’s often sordid lessons.
My life story is similar with divorce, separation, an alcoholic abusive father but my mother left him when I was about 5 and I was raised by her and my stepfather. My mother had a very abusive father (my grandfather) who I never really knew because she didn’t talk to him for the last 40 years of his life. Some time I’ll tell you the stories. Or maybe I could do a Memory Lane series….
The best we can do for our children is to support them, teach them right from wrong, have patience when they are being children, listen to them, try to understand them, try to be a good parent, and be there when they need us. Treat them the way you want to be treated. The Golden Rule.
Great work, Chris. I’m honored to have had the band practice in our basement.
All the best to you and your wife and son.
Take care,
G
Christopher, you are a truly brave soul as well as a strong one. You have suffered in some unspeakable ways and decided that the only way to win is to not let it continue with your wife and your own child. You decided that your legacy should be one of help and love, not harm and anger. I salute you for putting your memories out there for others to see. I have a feeling that it is going to help more than a few others who have had to survive similar circumstances. I hope that your son someday grows up and says something to the effect of, “He never talks about it, but I know he made sure I never suffered the way he did. I’m proud of him and love him for that.”
Thank you for sharing, Chris… From the beginning of your comic, I was always moved by how much you and your wife wanted and loved your son. Knowing now where you came from, and what your own childhood was like, I see that love for your child as even more amazing, even more meaningful. Good luck with everything, and I wish you and your lovely family all the best.
Chris,
I for one, know all your pain of what you went through. Cause I too, lived the same life of verbal/mental/physical abuse as you did. I’m your brother.
Growing up, you were all that I had. We fought like any other siblings did. But as I do now, I always looked up to you. We were our only way of staying safe and having the feeling of love. Cause we rarely ever saw it from our mother. As like you, I too, have all these memories burnt into the back of my mind. Some different, cause we both suffered our own abuse.
I know it takes a lot of strength and courage, to put out your memories like this, and for this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Everything we have ever kept locked up inside of us, is out not, and you’re right! This barely puts a scratch into all the tears we’ve shead, and all the hate that we have endured.
I guess what I really do want to say is, I’m sorry for being a stubborn ass at times, it’s the person I shaped into being. From our past, I grew into something different. I guess a bit darker you could say. I’m thick skinned, and can hold grudges, and have a lot of hate still stored inside of me. I never wanted to be and never asked to be ths way. I don’t trust many around me cause of our past. It’s hard for me to break.
But you’re my family. You’ll always be my brother, just like in the past, to now, you’ll always be here for me, as I’ll always be here for you. I won’t let go. I love you man. Always have, and always will.
“The scars we bare remind us of our past and where we’ve been, not where we are headed.”
Love, your brother,
Travis
Wow. I just stumbled across your site today, and read all of Memory Lane in one sitting. So powerful, so brave, and so very moving. I’m incredibly saddened to the point of tears from everything you suffered. I can relate in some ways, my childhood had it’s own quite different sorts of horrors, and that makes me respect you so much more for sharing your story. But what really made me cry was the ending. You and your family, starting a new story, a new chapter. There’s such hope there, and I think that’s brilliant.
Thank you so much for sharing this.
Wow. I just finished reading the whole “Memory Lane” series (found through Reddit), and … damn. You’ve very brave for sharing this stuff. And for coming out the other end with resolve to do better than was done to you. Thanks for putting it out there.
Dude…wow. Just wow.
Reading this sent chills down my spine. Especially the tooth pulling part. My mom did the exact same thing to me once. She got tired of me talking about my tooth being a little loose and decided to get it outta there. For two screaming bloody hours she pulled and yanked on my head until finally I was left in the bathroom to clean up the blood.
I always remembered bits and pieces of it…but when I saw the picture of your mom coming after you with the pliers, I broke down in tears. Hell, I’m crying again as I write this. I’m 40 and the scars are still there.
Each and every time I get mad at my son (now 2 and a half) I have to remind myself about how mom was always so horrible at handling her anger and that I have to be extra vigilant that I don’t end up doing the same.
Thanks for sharing. Thanks for letting some of us know that we aren’t alone. And know that you are not alone either.
Peace.
I, too, saw this through Reddit, and felt the need to post my support of you. I had a lot of very similar things happen to me growing up, and it was actually strange for me to see these comics and realize you’re talking about yourself and not me.
I have a daughter, myself, and I’ve promised myself to never do to her what was done to me. I’m proud of myself for having kept that promise. I have every faith in you that you will be the same way for your child.
Thank you for sharing.
Hi Chris,
Another redditor here. I was going to share a story or two of mine with you as one of those “Hey, you’re not alone” efforts, but as I was writing, I felt the urge to scroll up and read the comments that were left for you… and I read the one from your brother. It hurt me to read that, but in a very good kind of way — not only are you very lucky to have overcome such a traumatic childhood and escaped with a good head and a huge heart, but you are so lucky to also have a brother who knows what happened, understands it, and who also came out of it seemingly stronger and smarter.
I did everything I could to shield my brother and sister and harbor all the blows my parents threw at me. I’m the oldest. I wanted to protect them… and while I love them dearly, I can still see the psychological effect that our childhood had on them. I don’t think they can. I know they experienced a lot growing up (I couldn’t shield them from everything), but I don’t think they grasp just how bad it was. Or maybe they *can’t* understand it.
At any rate, the fact that you and your brother maintain what appears to be a solid relationship, devoid of delusions, is incredible. I’ll admit, I’m envious, as my siblings don’t seem to be capable of that kind of self-awareness and strength. I hope that in time, they prove me wrong. I wish there were more I could do for them, but I know that realistically, I can’t.
I keep falling into small tangents here, but ultimately I’m trying to say that your story was touching, you’re not alone – at the very least, you have your brother and that is an incredible thing – and your wife and child are very lucky to have you. Thank you for sharing your story. It couldn’t have been easy, and it takes an incredible amount of strength to be so honest and heal.
And don’t ever believe anyone who tries to tell you that you’re in the wrong for not wanting to salvage a relationship with your mother. You are an adult, capable of making your own decisions, and being able to gauge whether or not trying to make it happen with her will be damaging to you. If it harms you (and in turn, your wife and child) to even try, then don’t even try. That blood-is-thicker-than-water thing is oftentimes bullshit.
Take care, and again, thank you.
Thank you for drawing this. I saw this through reddit too as the above people have already pointed out.
I went through childhood abuse as well (mine was sexual). As an artist, I have been contemplating drawing comics as well. As I get older, I start to remember more and more and it gets hard to handle sometimes. Right now I am happy and am with my boyfriend of 2 1/2 years but I still have a lot of flashbacks and triggers.
I have been thinking about drawing a comic about my past but it would be really hard to depict certain things. I think it may help me in the healing process.
Thanks for doing this, this comic is really inspiring and shows that things do indeed get better. You may not be able to choose the family you’re born into, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make yourself a new one.
Christopher..Thank you for putting your story out there..I am just SO SO very sorry for the hell you suffered; but telling your story is a huge life saver. Hugs and congratulations..
Viv Palmer Harvey ( missionary kid now gramma)
and yes, I have told mine too. so I KNOW how paralyzing and strenuous is that process!
Thank you for sharing this, Christopher. It is really heartbreaking to read. You seem like you have moved forward from it in your life, and I am very happy for you.
One of the reasons I thought I would never want to have a baby is that I felt terrified that I wouldn’t be a good father, as I haven’t had the best fatherly examples in my life. I read your strips, in particular the last one (“…with each hug and kiss I give my son…”) and I looked down at the tiny 7-week-old in my lap and teared up. I may not have had as horrifying of times as you had, but that strip was beautiful and set me a little more at ease with this baby project.
I’ve just found your memory lane series of comics and just finished reading them, sparked off a lot of similar memories from my own childhood that I’d forgotten, but I think it’s incredibly brave and amazing that you’ve come this far, and lived though what you have lived through
I’ve often thought of writing down in some way the things I went through when I was younger… but the few times I tried, it never felt right. Now, it all seems so far away the need isn’t really there. There are some things that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to undo, like ‘freezing’ when some one is cross with me, however.
I’m guessing it felt right for you, else you wouldn’t have done it, much less let anybody see it, but if you were already knowing you had to give your child a better life than you had, then were good already. I do the best for mine I can, I want them to have a better life than I did, grow up to be better than me, I hope when they’re grown up they’ll think I did. They don’t know the things that happened to me, and I hope never will.
That wasn’t an easy read, but thanks.
The parallels between your childhood and mine are uncanny, but I was lucky enough to have a wonderful father to go live with after the divorce instead.
I was curious what your relationship with your brother was like as a kid, and what it’s like now? I ask because as a kid I, regrettably, coped with taking a lot of my damage out on him (he was favored by the mother and was abused less). My brother and I get along now, especially after he became a father himself and I had a niece to visit often. But there’s still obvious strain in the relationship, and his significant other isn’t fond of me, having heard stories of how I treated him as a kid.
The one who breaks the chain is the hero, to generations born and unborn and ultimately the whole world! Well done.
Christopher,
You have moved a 40 year old man to tears. There are so many similarities between what I went through in my childhood and what you depict so amazingly in your artwork that with every frame you evoked those emotions, that pain that I shoved into a hole and locked away. I am so happy that you were able to come back from the brink and make your life into something worth being proud of. May whatever force that put the stars in motion and makes the flowers of spring bloom bless you and your family, and may anyone who reads your comic and realizes that they need help get it.
Christopher, you are incredibly brave to put all of this out there. Abuse is such a terrible burden to deal with. That feeling of being alone as a child lingers into adulthood and you think you are still alone, even while surrounded by people who love you. My father always tells me that you can’t only listen to yourself. If you only listen to the voice inside, you can get a skewed view of the world.
Both of my parents were abused as children, so I know what it’s like to love someone who has been hurt in this way. I have watched both of them struggle with the emotional scars my entire life. Both of them have always made me feel loved, even when the abuse made them feel like they didn’t love themselves, or were incapable of love.
I know you don’t need any advice from an Internet Stranger, but the single greatest thing you can do with the awareness of your abuse is to break the cycle. Love your son and make sure he knows you love him. It sounds like you are well on your way down that path. THAT’S AMAZING! If breaking the cycle were easy, no one would be ever be abused. Be proud!
Also, don’t let the memories of your mother play mind games with you. You don’t have to explain why it’s ridiculous to threaten a child with scissors. It is ridiculous on its face! None of the horrible things that happened to you make any sense, and none of them are your fault.
Sorry for the rambling comment, but your comics and words really struck a chord with me. Be strong, don’t think you have to handle this yourself, and lean on those who love you!
Thank you so much for sharing, man. I’ve never experienced anything like what you went through, and you sharing… I don’t know, I feel like I need to fix the world now, I guess. It makes me angry that things like this can happen and I want to make sure it doesn’t. Once again, thank you for this.
Wow, this was a very powerful read and I applaud you for being extremely brave to hang your feelings out there like you did. I can relate (as many of the other commenters) because, I too went through similar forms of abuse. As a result, i tend to be very stoic and emotionless day to day … Not today. My wife asked me why I was crying, and my response was “I just read a comic where somebody else wrote about MY childhood …”
I bet this has been a very theraputic exercise for you. I’m also a dad and, like you, try very hard to protect my children and ensure they never have to go through what I did. Your wife must be very proud of you and, when you’re son grows up, I’m sure he will be too.
I feel so lucky to have found this by accident (on Kate Beaton’s webcomics round-up) because it was so necessary for me to read. There really is the common thread among abused children that the horrors that happened to them never could possibly have happened to anyone else… but then you discover something that reminds you that you’re not alone. I’m also grateful because it’s rare for people to talk about their mothers as the abuser, which seems the ultimate kick-in-the-face re: who is supposed to protect you the most. My mom abused me from early childhood right up into my late 30s and the depictions that you showed of the reality of how impossible it is to get away from that kind of abuse really hit me hard. I often find it hard to forgive myself for not fighting back and I was still being abused by her right up to her death from cancer. The real kicker was that I was struggling with “high functioning” autism all that time and I didn’t get diagnosed until my mid-30s.
Anyway, thank you, thank you SO much for what you’ve put out there. It’s important and I hope it helps you over time as well. I have a son too and I make those same promises that he will have a much better life than I ever did.
I want to say thank you for having the strength and bravery to publish what was done to you. I also grew up with a difficult childhood and while I have managed with therapy and good friends to be at peace for the most part with my father, I also became a child protective services worker as a result. I also have children and they will never know those hurts.
Chris – I went through about a percent of what you had. My stuff has affected me, I don’t know how you manage. I told my wife some of my stories (after 10 years of marriage) and that has helped release me. I have broken the cycle – my kids have never seen it and never will. That’s your job now, it seems like you’re doing it, it’s really really important.
Chris, my husband sent your Memory Lane to me today. I have to say that I felt like a kindred spirit throughout your words and pictures. I
My husband and I have been married 22yrs, and I thank God every day for him. He has taught me that I am worthy of love and kindness. I came from a home much like yours. A home filled with anger, screaming, throwing objects, and threats. My father spent the first 3yrs of my life in jail for stealing a car. Shortly after that, he started cheating on my mom. He was always gone. When together, my parents fought constantly. My mother, who really should have been on depression/psychiatric meds, would lash out physically or with hateful words due to her own pain. They divorced when I was 12. My mother went a bit mental for a while, and used to stalk my father with his new girlfriend. She stopped cleaning the house/yard, and expected my younger brother and I do cook/clean. How are two tween kids supposed to do that and go to school? When do you act like a KID, when you are expected also be an adult?
Like you, I have tried to block events out of my head. I remember often being hit with a leather razor strop (what barbers would use to sharpen their razors), and my mom putting all our non-perishable food into a hall closet and locking it so we couldn’t eat when she was gone. I started to hoard food whenever I could. I became overweight at 8yo. My mom used to call me ‘piggie’ because of it. I remember having to start working at 12yo and giving 1/2 of every $ to the household fund (I worked until I moved out at 19). I remember being told that I wasn’t as good as my younger brother. I remember my mother saying she wanted a boy, not a girl. I remember getting my period at 12yo, and my mom getting really angry with me because she had to deal with it. I felt so dirty about myself. I still have body issues.
It has taken me so many years to stop being angry with my mother. I have my husband to thank for his incredible love and patience. When my mother died in 2001 (from morbid obesity/heart failure), I wept in the funeral home. I didn’t weep for losing my mother. I wept because the person that tried to control me, was finally gone. She never got to know ME. She only wanted to control me, and hurt me. The person that brought me into this world, and was supposed to love & care for me, hurt me more than anyone ever had. At 43yo, I still have trust issues. I hold a little part of me back from the world ‘just in case’. I blame my mother for that.
I still talk to my father, but he is mentally disturbed. Honestly, I think the hurt he caused others for years, has come back to haunt him. He lives in a storage unit, and doesn’t want to be with family. No lie. He admits to never helping me & my brother all those years, but what can he say? How do you apologize for hurting your children, and then abandoning them?
I am a mother now. I try so hard to be kind/helpful to others. When I lose my patience with my son, it scares me because I NEVER want to be like my parents. I want my son to look back on his childhood with fondness and be thankful that his parents loved him. I want him to never be afraid of me, like I was with my father & mother. I NEVER want to be like my parents. My brother and I are friends now. He says that he NEVER wants to be like them either.
Chris, thank you for writing this post. You have helped many of us see that we aren’t alone in how we feel. We never deserved the mental, emotional, and physical treatment we were given. In a small way, maybe our abuse has made us the special people that we are. Like an abused animal that has found a loving home, we are thankful for each kindness, word of love, true friend, and blessing that we are given. We have seen/felt what bad looks like. We feel blessed beyond measure when we find the good.
Thank you for this, Christopher. It means more to me than you can know. Parents need every reminder we can get that we’re giants in our kids’ world – and that childhood means incredible vulnerability at every turn. That some adults act on that vulnerability with violence is horrifying… but the fact that I forget it too often myself, and respond with impatience or anger or frustration, is one of the things I most urgently want to change.
I’ve gone though similar childhood myself. Its never exactly the same for two people, but the pain and fear is still there. My mother also was very abusive, not to mention the various men that she was “with” though out my child hood. She went though periods where all was OK, but then she would explode. Shes a manic-depressant bi-polar mess.
I am so sorry for what you had to go though, and I wish that none of us had/has ever have to go though life like that. It must have been very tough for you to draw that out and relive it though the comics like that. But I also believe that you are better off for it. To get it off your chest so to speak.
I look at it this way now (I have a 8 year old little girl) I have learned many, many, many ways of how NOT to be a parent to my baby girl. Showering her with as much love as I possibly can, and protecting her from those that will do the same to her as was done to me. Especially my mother.
Stumbled across your comic because of Jeremy Bentley and Nora’s guest strip. It think it’s amazing that you are willing to share this part of your life in your strip . I suffered a lot of abuse in my childhood, both physical and mental though it wasn’t at the hands of family. Being born with a disability makes one a target too and I have my own set of scars. I’ll never get why adults have on occasion made fun of me for things I can’t control much like your teeth. I always figure these are the same sort of people who bullied kids and never grew up. I just wanted to tell you that though reading these was hard, I am very impressed that you put it out there. I try to do that too in my writing and it scares me to death so bravo. Your son is very lucky to have a dad who is aware of the cycle and therefore is making the choice to break it. I wish you and your brother both the best and I’m so happy to have found a new comic to follow!!
Lauraa
Just make sure Nathan won’t get any of those bad memories. Ever.
And I appreciate your bravery to tell the story you want to keep away forever from your life. It took guts, I’m sure.
God Bless your family, Christopher.
I wish I could tell you that I didn’t cry while reading this. But I would be lying hehe. This is amazing. Everything you just shared. And to think that you are such a nice fellow and such a good husband and father well, it is so hard to believe that all these things happened to you. You are truly an example of what a good person is, congratulations and thanks for writing this webcomic
Thanks for being so honest Chris. There are a lot of people out there who had similar experiences. I can pretty much say that what happened with you and your mom, happened with me and my ‘dad.’ You rock, good sir.
I was sent this by a friend, with the comment, “Dude, this sounds like YOUR mom!”
I followed the link, and read your comics, and posts.
It was like looking into a mirror. We not only have similar stories to tell, but the same name.
Only much later in life, and after college, was I advised by a friend to look at Narcissistic Personality Disorder, which perfectly describes my mother. Here is a google link for you:
My parents never divorced, and my mom told us (as we were kids, in junior high) that they had talked about it, but decided to stay together “for the kids”.
Let me tell you, that as kids, we wanted to give them the papers ourselves! Kids know whats up, and if you are staying together “for the kids”, you are making things worse for the kids.
I too have a kid myself now, and even though Grandma is close, she is never going to be the babysitter. She will never see my kids without supervision. This is difficult for people to understand, and they think I am being a jerk or trying to avoid stuff because I don’t drop the kids off at Grandma’s. “I’d love to have my family so close!” If you had my (our) past, you wouldn’t. I’d love to move to another country.
My other siblings have moved to other parts of the state, far away, and one is actually doing grad school in another country, just to be as far away from home as possible.
Thank you for your writings, it is reassuring to see that there are others with similar histories out there, we are not as alone as we believed.
http://3lnk.com/FqjDe3
Sorry, bad html, here is that google link
I wish you were my dad :(
sorry if i sound childish
Powerful material. Thank you for sharing.