Another Anniversary
It was two years ago this morning that I received a rude awakening. My wife and I had been sleeping separately for over a month, so I was surprised when she knocked on the door to the bedroom where I was sleeping at 5:30 am and told me that there were some people at the door to see me. When I got enough clothes on to answer the door, I found that there were three police officers on the doorstep who had come to serve me with the preliminary protective order that my wife had apparently filed against me the previous week. All she had to do was swear that I was a danger to her; she didn't have to present evidence and no one came to ask me my side. They gave me fifteen minutes to pack what I could and leave.
I'm still angry, two years later.
She gets to believe that I was tried and convicted of violent, cruel abuse, and I ... get to pay for it all and live somewhere else. Sort of a trade.
Now, though, she has left the house, apparently, and someone needs to live in it, not to mention the savings from doing so. Only, I promised myself I'd never go back. Maybe not exactly that; I definitely determined never to put myself at her mercy again. So, does this count? Am I just setting myself up as the caretaker of her house (ours, technically) until she decides to come back and boot me again? (I know, not likely, but I can't help wondering.)
What would "stand up for myself" look like, and how would I do it? Sometimes, I feel very powerless.
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