We interrupt this rant for a bit of self-revelation:
My dad called today from an unknown number. Figuring it to be someone I didn't want to talk to, I left the phone unanswered. Dad identified himself in the voicemail. He called back less than an hour later and after some ju-jitsu small talk, I made him cut to the chase. Patti, my evil stepmom, waltzed in last night and told him that she was done trying to stay together. Dad packed a bag and got out. The unknown number turned out to be a Motel 6. He explained that Tom (a family friend; the two trained together for their tae-kwon-do black belts and survived) was going to come help him take his stuff into storage tomorrow.
For the first time in my life, I heard him stifle back tears over the phone. My father completely broke down.
I've already held up a parent once - one of my most horrible memories of my childhood is having my own mother leaning on me, crying for months after a divorce.
All of this a mere four days before Valentine's Day. He'll be spending the evening alone catching a movie on TBS in a darkened Motel 6 room while his life collapses around him: his two sons gone and successful on their own, his wife ripping off the mask of vanity and showing the very face of greed, his own family refusing to accept him for not having divorced the woman a year ago.
Suddenly, the connection between holidays and breakups appeared in my face as clear as daylight. I did the exact same evil thing to my ex-girlfriend.
"Yeah, but Valentine's Day is like the love holiday! haw!"
Stooping anywhere near the level of the evil stepmom is enough to make me sick. Sure, it's a silly teenage relationship and both of us had support from our friends. But there was a glimmer of something else that was crushed in the process of my reckless cruelty. "Yeah, sucks for him, but he needs to grow up! haw!"
Yeah, the more disillusioned you are, the more potential you have to be happy. Imagine, though, for a minute that you're in the exact same situation. Imagine that you are suddenly alone, cast out from the new life you made for yourself. Imagine that your relatives will never want you back because they think you betrayed them. Imagine that your kids are successful not at all thanks to you and it wouldn't make a damned difference to them if you died right now. If that's growing up, let me get hit by a fucking bus.
Stooping anywhere near the level of the evil stepmom is enough to make me sick. Sure, it's a silly teenage relationship and both of us had support from our friends. But there was a glimmer of something else that was crushed in the process of my reckless cruelty. "Yeah, sucks for him, but he needs to grow up! haw!"
Yeah, the more disillusioned you are, the more potential you have to be happy. Imagine, though, for a minute that you're in the exact same situation. Imagine that you are suddenly alone, cast out from the new life you made for yourself. Imagine that your relatives will never want you back because they think you betrayed them. Imagine that your kids are successful not at all thanks to you and it wouldn't make a damned difference to them if you died right now. If that's growing up, let me get hit by a fucking bus.