Life Goes On

This post is in response to the following prompt from Write On Edge:
One person’s Humpty Dumpty is another person’s omelet. In 400 words or less, write about a time when something was irrecoverably broken and the ensuing scramble.

How do I narrow the many trips and falls of my life down to 400 words?  I've been thinking about this for a couple of days now but left myself only 12 hours to decide and complete the assignment.  I guess the life-changing event would be the moment that began the downward spiral of my life. The topic decided, now to use only 400 words.  That will be the challenging part for this Irish girl, for my love of talking isn't limited to speech.  So here goes...

I had already been through the family drama surrounding the death of my Dad.  The most beloved person in my life.  Less than two years later I faced the death of my Mom.  A woman I had only in the last few years realized how badly I needed. Her death was lingering for those living in the same country, for me, on Guam it was sudden.  I wasn't told of her illness until it was too late.  I wrote Mom a loving letter that she never received because of the greed of others.  I made it home to bury her but was blacklisted by my own family.

I spent the next year working with an attorney to get what was mine, items stored there and items given to me in the final division of property. My marriage began falling apart but I didn't see it through my own pain.  His Mom and I were never close. College degrees were important to her and I had dropped out.  But one day she saw enough and held me, telling me "Grieve Dammit!" I fought her to get away until the tears began, and then I clung  to her like a child.

My marriage to her son ended and I walked away with nothing but our son, his sister and his Mom.  He took everything as his new wife continues to taunt me on all she has gained.

In my need to feel wanted I ended up terrified and abused in a marriage to the cruelest man I had ever met. A man who continues to be cruel years after I escaped.  Eventually, I was able to get away but ended up financially trapped as a live-in employee to a man who only cared about himself.  A man who can't accept his loss of control over me.

When that charade ended, I began my new life.  A life where I can focus on my children without a man distracting me.  I no longer feel the need to have a man in my life. I am blessed to have found the man I want to be with.

Through it all, my "mom" has always been there, by my side, offering support - and love.  Despite those from my past who continue to try to destroy my happiness, I have found it at last and no one will take that from me.