Teacher

11th January this year marked eight years since I asked E to leave. This year’s anniversary has coincided with a personal milestone moment for me and marks, I think, the point at which I have moved so completely into the new life that I have made for myself that I’m not sure that the Me […]

Stupid

There’s a quote that says: “ever underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups”. I’ve always thought of this in terms of politicians and mobs, but it also applies to large, bureaucratic, organisations, particularly Government ones.  They’re powerful – the benefits and tax systems in this country affect actual lives – and they’re run by […]

Letter

Hi Mum I wish I could talk to you again, ask your advice again. Instead, I’m writing, like I used to do when I was at University and I spilled my heart and my hopes out to you knowing that you’d reply with your advice, your approval, your validation. I hope this letter is a […]

Forgiveness

I don’t very often talk about E these days.  When I see friends I haven’t seen for a while, he still occasionally crops up, but that part of the conversation is usually done and dusted within a few minutes before we move onto something more interesting.  The conversations tend to go along these lines:  Friend: […]

Should

I had something of a ‘Saul on the road to Damascus’ moment the other day. Things are pretty good.  I’m really beginning to feel that my life is mine again, and I am moving on from everything that has happened over the last six years.  I’m learning to accept that it will never be fair, […]

Countdown

After everything we’ve been through with E, I really thought we’d seen it all.  We’ve had a secret marriage, a year of no child support and mortgage defaults, a complete refusal to communicate with me, at all, about anything ever (including messages regarding his child’s mental health crisis), we’re also resigned to the fact that […]

Awake

As I explained in my last post, I finally have complete psychological freedom from E. If this were a movie, I’d have left him in a darkened forest, surrounded by gnarly old trees, twisting vines and grasping roots and, goblin like, he’d be shouting at my disappearing form that he’s still important, still relevant, can […]

Free

It’s been a weird few weeks (hence the increased blog posts).  In some ways it’s been tough, because a lot of quite traumatic memories have been dragged up, but ultimately, it’s been a time that’s confirmed how far I’ve come and how much better things are for me.  I’ve realised how just happy I am and […]

Witness

I haven’t written about this before because I wasn’t really sure where to start and, as it’s about religion, I was conscious that I could offend. But as we approach another Christmas (I start planning very early), it’s on my mind, and I think enough time has passed to give me some perspective. Basically, the […]

Insanity

There’s a quote that regularly does the rounds on social media.  It’s usually wrongly attributed to Einstein, but it does have an air of his quirky brilliance to it: “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” By this definition, the last six years have […]