My Weird Life 2008, Part I – The Part With the Endings and the Beginnings
Hello all, and Happy New Year! I had started this post a few weeks ago, but it got to be so very long and cumbersome, I thought I would break it up into three parts. So if you have nothing better to do, you can read all about what Moon has been up to for the past year!
Brightest of Blessings
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What a difference a year makes, and I’ll never cease to be amazed by that. This is probably why I find New Year’s Eve much more exciting than any Christmas. It’s the promise of an allegedly clean slate and the hope of better things to come.
At this time last year Hawk had been moved out about a month or two and Joshua and I still lived up in the double-wide in Winfield with the kids and a whole lotta cats. I was working but he was not. Hawk continued to pay the house payment, while he lived over at a friend’s house. I, alone, paid everything else. It was a real struggle.
New Year’s Eve found Joshua and me insanely happy together, as on that day we signed the lease to our new house, with intentions to move in there at Imbolc (February 2). It was a lovely day. It snowed a little, but not enough to be dangerous. And the evening was just beautiful, with us sitting on the couch sipping champagne as the kids went off to bed or to friends. New Year’s Day, well I don’t remember what we did; we probably just lazed around enjoying our bliss.
But I *do* remember January 2 quite well! I was driving to work on a frigid morning just zooming along in my beloved purple van my parents had given me, when I heard a noise no one ever wants to hear. Now, I had never heard the sound of an engine running out of oil but dammit I knew exactly what that sound was when I heard the skipping and screeching of the dying engine. Long story short, my van croaked right there and then, due to extreme neglect (my very very bad). I was stranded on Hwy 79 in 8 degree weather and about a twenty minute walk to someplace that was warm. At least it was “casual” holidays at work and I had on my jeans and hoodie or I would have been screwed, and frozen, no less. (Note: If anyone thinks this is eerily foreboding of what happened when The Scary Car died, you are not alone!)
As I was walking and cursing and crying (bad idea when it’s that cold) a semi truck stopped in front of me. I was already on the phone with my boss, and I knew the driver had stopped to help me. While I was scared, I was also freezing and I knew I would not make it to safety like that. I told her I was going to accept the ride, and while she pleaded with me not to I gave her the license # and a description of the truck and told her if she did not hear from in a hour to call the police and let them know something had happened to me. I kept her on the phone until I opened the door to the cab. There was the sweetest man in the world who asked me if I needed a ride. My boss was still on the phone while I asked him his name and I relayed it to her. I also told him that I had his license # and his name and he said ok, no problem. Then I hung up and climbed in.
And there, my friends, was a huge leap of faith on my part. At that point I was so upset and cold I didn’t care what might have happened. Everyone says that these days “you can’t be too careful” and I knew exactly what I was getting into. But I trusted. I trusted. I know in my heart of hearts that there are still angels in this world. My Pagan sense of things told me it was ok and he was genuinely there to help.
I wasn’t wrong. The man – his name was Sam, how ironic – said to me, “Please don’t be afraid, I’m a good Christian man, and I’m ashamed of all of those drivers passing you by as you were walking. I wouldn’t want MY wife or daughter walking out there in the cold like this!”
It was warm in his truck and I smiled as I thawed out. He was kind. He took me to a nearby Dierberg’s where I could wait for Hawk and Joshua to come and get me. I will never forget his gesture of good will. Bless that man.
A couple weeks later, as we were trying to get The Scary Car legal, we were driving it with expired plates to go get it inspected and licensed. We got pulled over. Turned out Joshua’s license was suspended (and neither of us was aware of that…well, *I* wasn’t…but….). He was arrested and taken to jail. And there ensued about seven days of the most craptapulous time of my life, for so many reasons.
I had no vehicle, Joshua was in jail, and I didn’t have the $500 to get him out (stupid ticket!), and…and…AND! — my beloved grandmother had the audacity to die that very same day and I had to deal with all of that completely alone. It was a very, very, very dark time in my life. Few things are more awful than visiting the man you love in jail on the very day you have to go bury your dear grandmother. I had to remind myself to breathe, the grief was that overwhelming. And then to go home to that cold empty house and know my beloved was all alone in that horrible place – not good. Not good. At least I had warm cats and cold beer.
It took selling my broken pretty purple van for scrap for $300 to make the bail for Joshua, but it was worth it. When I finally saw him I just fell in his arms and cried and cried. I don’t think we let one another out of each other’s sight for days after that! It made me realize how I much I really and truly loved him.
Once we dealt with his stupid ticket, things started to even out. We even got some of the bail money back, as they only wanted the amount of the ticket. I want to thank a thousand times over my friends who came to to bat for me in my time of need: Tracy, who gave me a seriously reduced rate for her taxi service to get me to work when we had no vehicle, and Rebecca…dear, dear Rebecca…who gave us the money out of her own pocket so we could get The Scary Car legal. I love you both so much!
In March Joshua got hired over at the cafe in town (and he could walk to work!). It 
was wonderful and a real Goddess-send as we were really having a bad go of it on just my salary alone and what with the two kids and all (16yo boys can sure eat!). The extra money coming in would certainly come in handy. Things started looking up, and I had real hope for the first time in a very long time…
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