"The M you have reached has been disconnected...."

[faithisbelieving]

Notes

Compassion
Saturday, at my son's baseball game, an assistant coach from last year's travel league team came up to me:
Coach: Hey FIB, I wanted to thank you for something. It was something you taught me but it has nothing to do with baseball.
Me: Ok, what???
Coach: Last summer, you told me to 'be in the moment' with my son. After that talk, I changed my whole life. I now stop everything I am doing and all my work on the computer when my kids come upstairs to talk to me and it made all the difference in the world. I want to thank you.
Me: (dead silence and choked up)

I told ya so

About 3 weeks ago, X called me up pissed off at me accusing me of calling Child Protective Services against her. I had no idea what she was talking about. Apparently, someone (I am guessing D7's para at school), filed a complaint against XW. The allegation was that XW picked up D7 at school for nausea, vomiting and fever, then, proceeded to a job interview and locked D7 in the car. I was questioned about XW for only 2 minutes over the phone. XW claimed her new BF was with her. Case was found 'unsupported' and case sealed.

MD

XW called me yesterday. Kids were 'ruining' her Mother's Day and called me for help (???). I spoke with both kids on the phone, and, of course, did the right thing. S10 is now texting, again, several times a day that he misses me. He wanted me to pick him up last night at 930PM. Rough. D7 on the other hand has been shortening some of our time together to return to XW. I think she is coming of age when they need a woman, similar to S10 wanting to spend more time with me.

Can't escape this crap

Apparently, I was supposed to be paying XW thru Child Support Unit when I was paying her directly. Typical for NYS, I received a notice just the other day that I was in arrears for nearly a year and threatened me with revocation of my license, etc. Ugh. Fortunately, I paid all my checks to her thru the same bank acct and labelled them as CS. Spent a half a day printing up copies of cancelled checks. Ugh. Mailed all that stuff in the other day and now have to hope that they just do the right thing. What a waste of my time.

Me

Still dateless. I don't really feel lonely but I miss companionship and intimacy much. As time goes on I truly do not miss XW but I DO miss my home, having a family structure and that 'potential'. Apartment life is OK. Cramped compared to a house, but, losing the mortgage was like getting the proverbial gorilla off my back. XW likes to call now. She used to minimally communicate and rely on texts. Now, she calls. Having a BF, perhaps, is helping her lessen her anger. She brought him to one of our son's BB games and people came up to me afterward stating that it was inappropriate. It's her life now. Me? I just grab my catcher's glove and warm up my son on the mound.

S10...out of pain comes opportunity

Our kids suffered thru our divorce. Sadly, my son found solace in having a catch with me. Sometimes, my son would drag me outside 4X-a-day. Sometimes, he would drag me out at 8AM before the bus came. We would have a catch. Over and over again. Eventually, he began to throw really well.

On opening day, my son pitched four innings. He let up no runs. He retired the side with 12 pitches. This Saturday, he nearly had a perfect inning. He threw 12 strikeouts. He's been asked to pitch on his travel team and also to become a core member to stay with the team over the years. He has an on base percentage of .600 and consistently hits into the outfield.

This is not a brag. In fact, as I drove home after this 1st game, I couldn't keep the tears from pouring down my face. The pain was so great. You see, in his attempt to escape his pain, he would run outside to have a catch with his father. In an attempt to escape his pain, he learned to throw. In an attempt to escape his pain, he developed a desire to pitch.

I'm so proud of my son. I just wish that, life had given him a different start.

The best to all of you.
FIB