Saga: Part IV - When Hubby Met Jenny

Sorry - I couldn't resist the shout-out to Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan.

INTRO:

There I sat in my new condo, 21 years old, in a different state, with no furniture and no car. I was happy though. I had left behind a dead-end relationship with a jack-ass who had taken all of my possessions and childhood momentos and hauled them off to the dump. I could have taken some things from our house, but I just wanted to be done with it. I was just glad to be rid of him and on my own. He had pulled me down into HIS deep pit of depression and drug addiction, and it took me nearly a year to claw my way out of it and leave him. My parents were ecstatic, as this was the guy who nearly wrecked my relationship with my family. It only took me about a month and a half to furnish my place, get a new car, and get back on my feet. I knew that I was an intelligent and tenacious person, with a good head on my shoulders; I was sure that I would be okay.

Until July 5, 1995.

This is the day I was the sixth car out of 26 to collide on I-264. When I regained consciousness, I was sitting in a pile of glass in my passenger's seat, with my driver's seat-belt still fastened. My seat had been crushed. I must have slid out from the seat when it buckled and flew across the car, busting my forehead on the windshield, pushing my stick-shift under the dash with my knee, and then busting out the passenger side window with the side of my head. I ended up with 62 lacerations on the right side of my head, a fractured nose, two black eyes, eight pieces of glass in my shin, a busted knee, and a piece of metal in my right hip. But, I was alive. And without a car again.

I was depressed for quite a while after that, and withdrew into myself.

I got a call one Friday night from an old friend of mine, who was throwing a party. She had always felt it was her calling to fix me up with these random guys - even in high school. I didn't really want to go, but I decided, "What the Hell", and went anyway. As soon as I pulled up, she ran out to the car, "Oh My God, Girl...Do I have the guy for you!" I rolled my eyes as I walked up the steps, because her idea and my idea of a "good guy" were polar opposites.

As soon as I stepped foot into her house, I saw my future hubby sitting on the couch. Mind you, this was not the guy she had envisioned me falling head over heels for. Her match for me was some construction worker guy with three kids. Not! Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with construction workers, he just wasn't my type. There was something about the guy on the couch that just drew me in. I guess because he looked like he wanted to be there about as much as I did. I felt an instant connection.

I guess I always go for the "tortured soul" types. Like I've said a billion times, I've got that "savior" mentality. Anyway, after hours of mindless conversation with a crowd that was already half-blasted by the time I arrived, I stepped outside on the porch to think of my excuse for leaving. I remember this night like it was yesterday. I was looking up at the sky, making my corny wish on the first star I saw, when I heard the door open behind me. It was Him! Of course, I can talk to anyone, so I started a conversation and we talked for about an hour. He came off pretty quiet at first, but after talking for awhile and getting to know him a little better, I felt that he "needed me". Or, maybe I needed him. I know, I know...this sounds kinda psycho, but I'm really not, I just have a REALLY GOOD sense about people.

I'll never forget one of the first things he said to me after we got to know each other a little bit. He couldn't believe that he had found a girl his age who had no kids, a great job, a new car and her own place. You have to understand "the neighborhood". Most people our age (at this point) were either in prison, had 2.5 kids, or were still living with their parents. I think I freaked him out a little bit. But, I KNEW I would be good for him.

He turned out to be my best friend. We had so many great times together, but, there was alot of turmoil to overcome before we got there. I didn't find out until about a month later (we had been together every day since the party) that he had a daughter. One he didn't even claim. At the time, I didn't know what to think about that, until I learned that he had found his pregnant girlfriend in bed with another man. Mind you, she trapped him in the first place by getting pregnant. She knew he didn't want kids then - we were still kids ourselves - but thought in her messed up mind that if she got pregnant, he would marry her. Boy, did she do a number on him.

And, so did his father.

When I met him, he hadn't spoken to his father in eight years. His dad was an alcoholic, who used to beat him and his mother. And, I mean BAD. One day, his father woke up and decided he was a "born again Christian". He left the family out of the blue and moved to Georgia, where he married a Korean woman and started a whole new family. My hubby had learned as a child to keep his feelings bottled up. When he got older, he started trying to drink his problems away. I knew deep down there was a great person in there...and I was right. But it would take me eight years to untangle the mess his dad and ex-girlfriend had made of him. Eight Long Years. But that's just the beginning of our story.