because you asked.....
Mary Pat commented that she thought the fact that I had moved many times to a new city just to start over was an interesting concept and she wanted to know more....
Well here goes nothing!
When I was a young rebellious 17 year old idiot, I felt like the world was against me and I needed to have a fresh start.
I picked up my very few belongings and made my way to the great white north. Back to the place I spent my summers as a child. This is where I married my first illiterate fool. I met a man that was 14 years my senior. He seemed to have his shit together and I needed somebody to love, cherish and take care of me. He fit the bill quite nicely. (at least for a short time!)
At 17, my judgment was impaired. Here I was, a fairly booksmart literate teenager, with a very skewed idea of what the world should be....there he was, an illiterate lumber worker with a job, an apartment and little else.
Together we moved from this small town to another small town for a fresh start after he lost his job with the lumber mill. When we got to our new location he spent months looking for a new job and by the time he found employment, I found myself pregnant with baby number 1.
By the time baby number 2 was born 12 months 22 days later, he had been fired from 3 jobs and was out of work again. I worked in various occupations from manager of 2 retail stores to Bartender at the local strip club. By the time Baby number 2 was 6 months old we had separated 4 times and in a last ditch effort to find a job "the illiterate one" had moved to Southern Ontario on his own. I stayed behind, working and raising babies. I was all of 21 years old.
Due to a combination of my own stubbornness and other things, my relationship with my parents was still strained at best, but we were working towards a mending of ways because of the grand babies. Grand babies have a tendency to bridge wide gaps. When "the illiterate one"
called to say "he had a great job, a fab apartment and a wonderful fresh start, would I please bring the kids to Southern Ontario for a new beginning" my parents were quick to agree that this was a good idea. Basically this would put their grand babies living 45 minutes away instead of 10 hours away.
I agreed for the sake of my little family that this was the way to go. I gave notice at my job and my apartment, packed up our belongings and prepared to move south.
One week before actually leaving I got this call from "the illiterate one" that told me he had no job, no apartment but a really cool campsite that was close to town and the job was just a matter of time! I packed up and moved anyway, leaving my worldly goods stored in my Grandmother's garage in my hometown 45 minutes away form the "cool campsite"
When I arrived at the "cool campsite" there with 2 babies under the age of 3, it was to find "the illiterate one" with nothing but a pup tent and a great tan! In the month of June some would consider this an adventure. I was young, energetic and momentarily STUPID. We lasted 6 weeks in that campsite and then one sunny August day I decided enough was enough and the babies and I moved to a less than wonderful apartment that had running water, a roof and electricity. Oh yes, "the illiterate one" one came eventually as well but it didn't last long. By September, separated again I returned to High School to finish up my grade 12 so that I could move on to college.
In the next 4 years, my Parents were my rock! Without them I don't know that I would have made it! They helped out with finances, they helped out with the kids and basically they provided the support that I needed to finally make the break from the first "illiterate one". I graduated from college but not from the world of "Stupid in Love" .
So this is 3 major moves between the ages of 17-24. This doesn't count the individual moves within town while going to college (4 more times within 4 years).
There is one more major move that we made but the story surrounding that one is also a long one....so we'll leave that for another time!
Well here goes nothing!
When I was a young rebellious 17 year old idiot, I felt like the world was against me and I needed to have a fresh start.
I picked up my very few belongings and made my way to the great white north. Back to the place I spent my summers as a child. This is where I married my first illiterate fool. I met a man that was 14 years my senior. He seemed to have his shit together and I needed somebody to love, cherish and take care of me. He fit the bill quite nicely. (at least for a short time!)
At 17, my judgment was impaired. Here I was, a fairly booksmart literate teenager, with a very skewed idea of what the world should be....there he was, an illiterate lumber worker with a job, an apartment and little else.
Together we moved from this small town to another small town for a fresh start after he lost his job with the lumber mill. When we got to our new location he spent months looking for a new job and by the time he found employment, I found myself pregnant with baby number 1.
By the time baby number 2 was born 12 months 22 days later, he had been fired from 3 jobs and was out of work again. I worked in various occupations from manager of 2 retail stores to Bartender at the local strip club. By the time Baby number 2 was 6 months old we had separated 4 times and in a last ditch effort to find a job "the illiterate one" had moved to Southern Ontario on his own. I stayed behind, working and raising babies. I was all of 21 years old.
Due to a combination of my own stubbornness and other things, my relationship with my parents was still strained at best, but we were working towards a mending of ways because of the grand babies. Grand babies have a tendency to bridge wide gaps. When "the illiterate one"
called to say "he had a great job, a fab apartment and a wonderful fresh start, would I please bring the kids to Southern Ontario for a new beginning" my parents were quick to agree that this was a good idea. Basically this would put their grand babies living 45 minutes away instead of 10 hours away.
I agreed for the sake of my little family that this was the way to go. I gave notice at my job and my apartment, packed up our belongings and prepared to move south.
One week before actually leaving I got this call from "the illiterate one" that told me he had no job, no apartment but a really cool campsite that was close to town and the job was just a matter of time! I packed up and moved anyway, leaving my worldly goods stored in my Grandmother's garage in my hometown 45 minutes away form the "cool campsite"
When I arrived at the "cool campsite" there with 2 babies under the age of 3, it was to find "the illiterate one" with nothing but a pup tent and a great tan! In the month of June some would consider this an adventure. I was young, energetic and momentarily STUPID. We lasted 6 weeks in that campsite and then one sunny August day I decided enough was enough and the babies and I moved to a less than wonderful apartment that had running water, a roof and electricity. Oh yes, "the illiterate one" one came eventually as well but it didn't last long. By September, separated again I returned to High School to finish up my grade 12 so that I could move on to college.
In the next 4 years, my Parents were my rock! Without them I don't know that I would have made it! They helped out with finances, they helped out with the kids and basically they provided the support that I needed to finally make the break from the first "illiterate one". I graduated from college but not from the world of "Stupid in Love" .
So this is 3 major moves between the ages of 17-24. This doesn't count the individual moves within town while going to college (4 more times within 4 years).
There is one more major move that we made but the story surrounding that one is also a long one....so we'll leave that for another time!
posted by Anonymous at 10:48 am
2 Comments:
You've come sooo far and done so wonderfully for yourself and your babies.
I raise my glass to you!
WOW...did I say WOW.
I must be just WAY immature. I can't even imagine such responsibility at that age. Great story, I can't belive you stayed in a pup tent w/ the baby girls.. now if they were 6 and 7 that would be a different story.
I can't wait for the rest of the story! :-)
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