Hard agree, and what’s worse is that I didn’t then, and even now 30+ years later don’t see it as a traumatic. I know it is logically but I don’t feel it.

Things leading up to it were that much worse, and the later years didn’t start to get better until recently.

I could only hope!

She was fine. She left after the shooting and got a ride home. We don’t talk anymore. She accused me of raping her when we were kids while she was in a troubled teen facility (I got to fly to Utah and talk to a room full of shrinks as a teenager!) got my whole family believing and accusing me… Until 10 years later when she did the same to our dad.

I feel for her, she’s had it rough but I’ve almost died, been ostracized and demonized by my entire family and the emotional shit that came with it as a teen. But she can get fucked.

She later (several years) went on to get arrested and convicted of selling coke, as well as conspiracy to sell. Got out, invited the police in while she had meth out on the table after calling them about methallucinations.

Had a shotgun put to my head and marched into a house of gang members because I dared to try to pick my sister up from a party. Got yelled at and threatened, and left without her.

Came back a little while later to try once more and found ems/police/fire all over the place. That same person with the same shotgun blew someone elses head off after I left.

I had a friend with me, we elected not to stop the second time. A day later the police questioned us, we were subpoenaed to testify, and both got threatened by gang members for years.

Good times.

Do it! I left SW Virginia for the Pacific Northwest and it was one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. Doubled my salary, with a modest CoL bump.

Had to come back to help take care of a terminally ill parent, and can’t wait to leave again when they are gone.

Go easy on them, they haven’t been handed their talking points yet, so are contractually obligated to continue with the last set they were given.

Let’s just say you could… How much to go back 46 years?

Thank you!

Speaking of Virginia, stay in the north half. Down here in the southern part is maga fucks as far as the eye can see.

One down the road just put up a huge Confederate flag and two large trump flags. Instead of fixing their collapsing roof. Priorities I guess…

No argument here. Just highlighting the absolutely insane mindset of business owners/CEOs at all scales.

BT reference as I live and breathe. I know what’s going on my playlist for the drive coming up.

Came to add this one, glad I didn’t have to!

He can object because he’s decided that’s what is right. Literally nothing else matters.

The piece of shit that used to own my company is like this. His decision is correct and gospel, and if you don’t agree or if it’s provably false you are wrong. And it’s your fault you are wrong, because he has decided it to be correct.

Another vote for Garmin, wearing a Descent mk2i as my daily and dive computer. Two weeks on a charge, all the tracking I could ask for. It’s big, but so am I so it doesn’t look ridiculous.

Had this same experience when I visited London 20+ years ago. Turns out it was the opening of Parliament that brought out all the MP5s according to the staff at the hotel.

To reinforce this, if my kids school system went on strike I would be behind it 100%.

It would fucking suck for us, but educators deserve better and I want them to get it.

Are you ok?

I feel like this is just another division tactic to split the vote to favor Republicans.

I have friends who were rabidly for Democrats and their agenda for decades, decrying single issue conservative voters, now acting the same way toward Biden over Gaza as if he single handedly orchestrated this and didn’t inherit years of foreign policy.

I fucking hate what’s happening there and don’t want to support it in any way, but my vote doesn’t change what’s already established and the alternative is so much worse.

I keep asking for a viable alternative and all I get is vote third party or stay home which solves exactly nothing.

Don’t try to compare, our circumstances are different, but how we feel and how our situations impact us are just as valid as the other.

I hope you start to make the turn, I know how hard it is to get out of the depressive hole we often find ourselves in!

Thank you, I really appreciate it. There’s a LOT left out of the abusive conditions I lived in leading up to that, I was forced to sleep on the floor for a couple of years, forced to physically abuse myself for her amusement once I was well and truly broken. She used my kid as a pawn to manipulate and control me and it worked. She used my size to intimidate other people to get what she wanted. Burned down our home.

Cut me off from all of my friends and family.

I’m doing a LOT better these days, it’s been a few years now. Through therapy and giving myself space I uncovered memories of being sexually abused by a priest in my youth, which surely didn’t help, and the legal ramifications of that are still turning as we speak.

I’m still a broken human, but I’m a much better version of myself than I was a few years ago. I struggle, and fight the constant feeling that I should cease to exist, but as long as my kid needs me I have a thread holding me down.

I have the most amazing partner now, who has shown me what it is really like to be loved beyond being a parent. Something I never experienced until the last couple of years.

I’m writing a letter to my kid, that I will give her when they are much much older, outlining what those years were like. I know they can see the evil in their mom, but can’t name it yet. I haven’t said a word about it to them, and have no plans to until much much later or until they start to ask me about based on their observations.

I had intended to just say thank you, but … it feels good to let it out. Very very few people who know me have heard that much of the story. Thank you for hearing me. I truly appreciate it.