2014 In Review

Wow!! What a year this has been  ... let me give you a run down of MY year !

January 17, 2014 - My divorce from the monster is finalized! I feel great, I can finally move on with my life, without any more abuse!! The choice for me? MONSTER FREE!!

February 2014 - My sweet little Jam turns 6! He's in kindergarten, and having a REALLY hard time with letter recognition. The school suggests we start him in the reading program, because if he can't recognize the alphabet, he won't be able to read.

March 2014 - The order for Grandparent visitation is terminated, but left as a stipulation because on the day of the hearing to terminate, MONSTER is in jail, per usual. Since he spends so much time as an inmate, the order will stand IF and WHEN he is incarcerated, otherwise the order is dead in the water.

April 2014 - My youngest daughter turns 10, though she acts 20. She looks like me more and more every day!

May 2014 - Monster, angry that he is had on contempt once again, files contempt against me because Indiana Guidelines doesn't give him a visit in May 2014, little does he know, it won't give him a visit in May 2015 either ...

June 2014 - The judge posts 2 court dates. monster purgers himself at the first, and is found in contempt, he is found in contempt at the second date too. No contempt stands against me, as I have followed Indiana Guidelines.

July 2014 - Monster is able to get me confused and takes my July 4th holiday. It's all good though, I will just take his next holiday. My Aunt turned 56 July 23 and though her health isn't the greatest, she seems to be getting better. We have a birthday party for my Aunt, and my oldest daughter, who will turn 12 July 30.

August 2014- Jay stays with my Aunt until the day before school starts, they had a great summer. The night she drops Jay off, she goes home, and then heads to the hospital. She will be there for the last time, we are currently unaware how serious her condition is. She goes into a rehabilitation hospital, where her health will deteriorate. My oldest son turns 16!!

September 2014 - My Aunt can't hold down any food. She vomits anything she can swallow right back up. The original hospital punctured her bowel while draining fluid from her because of her kidney failure. They have caused a massive infection in her blood. She's hanging in there, but in the middle of the night on September 10 her heart rate skyrockets to nearly 200 bpm. I am called at 5:45 AM and ordered to the hospital. I get the boys to the sitter so they can go to school without telling them anything. We decide the children need to come, and so after school, I leave the hospital, I get the kids, taking Jam and Washy to my cousins and dropping them off and return to the hospital with Jay so that he can spend some time with Mare Mare. He is there a few hours before she demands me to take him out. When I return to the room from taking him to the waiting room, she is gasping for air, and telling us she can't breathe. In a few hours, our family will consent to a DNR, we send Jay to my cousins, we stop the medications keeping her alive, and she leaves us, sad, broken, and confused. We will always miss you Mare Mare.

October 2014 - We will begin celebrating our birthdays without our glue, first my cousin and then myself. It's difficult, but we persevere. A little bit older, a whole lot closer, and how did we learn so much???

November 2014 - Jay turns 9 and Washy turns 5. My babies are growing up SO FAST!!! Thanksgiving is  blast, our family has a great day, and though she isn't there, we can feel my Aunt in all of our activities. At the end of the night, we have some down time to remember her.

December 2014 - I am granted sole custody of Joshua after nearly a year of dealing with a mountain of crap from the monster. He loses all. Christmas goes off without a hitch!! It's a wonderful time, with family and framily. The kids get wonderful gifts, and enjoy time with family. We don't have as much fun as we did at Thanksgiving, Christmas without a loved one is always a hard pill to swallow, but we survive.

And now there is today. December 28, 2014. I am so grateful for the last year. I grew, I learned, I grieved, I returned to church, I began a relationship with a great guy that respects me and my boundaries(which is why I have yet to really talk about him OR introduce him to anyone) and life is going forward, full speed head!! It wasn't an easy year, I was tested consistently, but I held it together, kept a smile on my face, and increased in happiness. I look forward to ending this year and beginning the next.

With this I say farewell to 2014, and wait patiently for the new year to come! It can only get better from here!

Love and peace to all who read!!