I consider myself a happy person by nature. I don't like conflict, but then again most people probably don't. I really despise abusive people and avoid them if at all possible. I see it at work enough that if I can avoid it outside of work I do so.
That said, I need to give the 'back story' to a location I passed on my walk with the dog tonight. The house is in town and years ago the mother and stepfather of a classmate of one of my kids' lived there. The classmate shared with my kid that said classmate was being abused by the stepfather and showed my kid marks on their body. Stepfather was smart enough to not leave marks where they would be seen. It wasn't sexual abuse, it was physical, verbal, mental, that whole package.
I was under the impression that that couple had moved. Oh, and by the way, the classmate was removed from that home very very shortly after telling my kid. I believe the classmate also told another family member because they went to live with a family member within a week of the telling. This was a relief to me, because when I found out I could not have kept it to myself for very long.
So I walk past the house, again, thinking that couple had moved, and I hear a man's voice coming from one of the open windows. It's shouting abusive things to someone inside. I don't know if it was the same man that lived there before, I really don't. Maybe only abusers are attracted to live in that house, for all I know.
At any rate, the house is on a corner, with a four way stop. A truck was coming from one direction and I needed to cross that street as quickly as possible. Tonight, I'm thankful for stop signs. Because it was a four way stop, I was able to spend the least amount of time in that negative area.
I just don't handle conflict like that very well. My husband and I don't argue much at all, but when we do disagree we don't get abusive towards each other. He's never laid a hand on our children. I didn't come from a home where people spoke to each other like that. Maybe I lead a sheltered life. If I do, so be it. I know that things like this go on, and even worse things go on, but I don't have to be around it.
I am a lucky person. I'm blessed with a wonderful family and good friends. I thank God for these things.
On a completely different note, Nick is moving out...tonight! I thought he would wait until the weekend, but he's doing it tonight. I think it will be good for him.
When Ivy and I took our walk we stopped at Uncle Ray's. He was out in the yard so we stopped to talk for a while. He asked me why I had to have a big dog and why I didn't get a little dog. This was after Ivy tried to jump on him. I stopped her, but he didn't want anything to do with her after that. And she really wasn't behaving badly, just initially tried to jump on him. I LIKE big dogs. period. And I like some little dogs, like beagles. Ivy isn't all that big of a dog, really, at least not in my opinion. She's just over 50 pounds and is all legs right now.
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