Making a Long Story Short-ish

I married TP ...heh ... TP ... that's funny.  I guess I don't really need to use initials, but you have to admit, that was funny in an immature, Beavis and Butthead sort of way. 

Anyhow, back in 1998 I married Theo Petersen.  We had two boys homegrown and we outsourced the best girl they had in China.  The marriage was tolerable.  We liked the same media so we could talk about something.  I think he stopped liking me back in 2002-ish, was permanently annoyed by me around 2005 and actively disliked me for the rest of the time.  We had an attempt at rekindling in 2008, but all the kindling was wet and we gave up after a few sputtering attempts.

We had more problems.  He got nastier, especially with the kids.  Money, parenting, medical issues, mutual history, bullying, isolation, humiliation -- you know the routine.  In 2009 he filed for divorce to "get my attention" or "teach me a lesson", I forget which.  He said it was because he wanted to save money.  Did I mention that he'd rather pay more in childcare than I'd earn just so I could show I wasn't lazy?  He respected the childcare givers because they were employed.

His first proposal was that I get the kids and he keep his money and we split the house 50-50.  See?  We'd both get something.  Yes.  Really.  He really proposed that.  During the fights he denied that the kids had special needs (one has Asperger's, one anaphylactic allergies to eggs, milk beef and peanuts, and one is legally blind).  I had to prove that the kids had the needs they did, that I paid for my own college, etc.   Before the final hearing in October of 2010, when he realized that he'd have to pay child support, the court was likely going to order him to take personal counseling and parenting classes, and he'd likely have to pay support for three years for me to get my teaching license, he left.  He left his job, his kids, his phone, his stuff, his debts, and so on. 

Neither hide nor hair has been seen since.  If you want to bring in his hide, I think I can get you a bounty.

He left me a nice email telling me I was a jerk and good-bye.  He never mentioned the kids.  He's never tried to contact them.

They've stopped asking about him.  Even my little girl who loves pictures of any and everyone, picked up a picture of him, asked if it was her daddy and then hearing that it was, put the picture down and walked away.  (I should mention that she is legally blind, she hasn't forgotten what he looks like, she just needs a little extra for the identification.)

So there you go, the latest happenings.