2002-07-24 - 5:44 p.m.

Good news and bad news

The good news is how You have worked in d's life since his birthday last July. I cried that day at the hopelessness I felt for him, but You knew!!! Here I am, almost 61, and still haven't learned to trust You wholly!!

Since then, he has grown in wisdom and in stature (o yes, many inches, and now taller than me, way taller, almost 6 feet at 14) He still has a quirky personality, and finds it hard to make friends, but when he does, they stick around. He had a difficult year socially even in ACE school, kids are jerks everywhere and he just won't walk away from injustice and bad language. He had a good year with teachers and principal, and academics and was proud of his accomplishments. When they moved to new place, he made several friends and may even go to schoo there. I'm going to have to trust You for that because of the past history. As we celebrated his birthday at the same place, life was still not perfect but there are lots of silver linings. The girls and their dad were there and all were kind and friendly. As we drove away, I marvelled at the difference I felt. Thank You, thank You.

Now for the bad news. After 2s dropped the girls off Sunday evening where ever their mom, the blb, was, they went home where her second husband was waiting inside the apartment for the blb. The blb had decided to leave him, so the girls told d, several months ago, but then he bought her alot of things so she was staying awhile. Same song, second verse as 10 years ago when she did her number on 2s. She left the second one a couple of weeks ago and has had part time jobs painting houses and pulling weeds for the city ( there is a whole hilarious but tacky story there but I am too heartsick to tell it now) Anyway, at the apartment, Sunday night the 2 adults quarrelled, and the 2nd husband went home and killed himself the next morning, getting blood all over the new couch the blb was getting ready to move out to her new place. The little girls called their daddy Monday night after he got off work with the news.

2s had been over to their stepdad's place Sunday before coming to d's party fixing k's pig pen so the fat one and the skinny one could have separate diets. He and new husband got along fairly well, both liking horses and outdoor stuff, and having known each other previously as youngsters. 800 used to do custom work for the family and knew them also. They were good people but this will change their lives forever. 2nd husband was a much better stepdad than I had hoped for for my little girls. If there had to be one, he was the best of a bad situation, but that in itself should have been an indicator that the marriage wouldn't last. Stepdad's first wife had died in a work accident and he received a million dollar settlement just months before the marriage. Blb said that was the reason she was leaving 2s, never enough money. I don't know how much she will get out of this tragedy. And that is not even important. Right now she has been locked out of her former house by his older kids so she cannot take the rest of whatever she planned.

2s came home 10 years ago from work, and found the house stripped clean by the blbdand her dad and brother, his family gone, and divorce papers on the floor in front of the door. I am thankful You restrained him from killing himself and brought him out of his 2 week exile at that time. He has recovered well and is happy and contented.

I guess what concerns me most is how this will affect k-14 and s-12. For the last 10 years, they have spent only limited time in a safe environment where sanity is the rule not the exception. 2s has them every other weekend, alternate holidays and 2 weeks a month in the summers. They have eaten Sunday dinner here every other week and spent the afternoon and I have cared for them in the summer when he was at work. He has never tired of taking them and has asked for more time whenever possible. I hope and pray those times will make up for the other.

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