Chapter 3

We lived in this neighborhood, if that is what you would call it, for a year or so. Right after we moved in, this man came by to see Mom. He knew my name but I did not know him. It seemed very odd and I wasn’t so sure I liked it. He did not stay very long and I did not see him again for a long while.
At Christmas, my dad came to visit us on Christmas morning. Mom had let us strew everything we got for Christmas everywhere. Everywhere you looked was toys. Left over pieces of wrapping paper graced the floor as well. We were in heaven; Mom also had a smile on her face, finally allowing us to be kids. When Dad came in, his head about spun around. He immediately started in on Mom, she stayed strong and explained to him that this was her house and we could do whatever we wanted to. I don’t remember Daddy staying there very long that morning.
At one point my mom let a friend of hers from work move in with us. She, Pat, had two kids, Dawn and Matt. I think Mom needed the help with rent, and Pat needed somewhere to go. I don’t remember much about living with them, so I guess our co-existing was not eventful.
One day my mom told Tim and I that we were going to be moving to a new apartment. She was so excited. There was a new complex opening that was geared to single parents and based on your income. She had applied and her application had been accepted. I saw the gleam in my mom’s eyes. She was proud of herself.
We moved into apartment 15D. It was a two bedroom, one bath. Cute, it was very cute. Tim had his own room and Mom and I shared a room. There were sidewalks everywhere. There were lots of kids that we could hang out with. This was huge for Tim and me since we were so use to having neighborhood friends, the kids at our previous place were not the kind of kids any parent in their right mind would want their kids to hang out with.
At Coachwood Apts, it was almost like a support group for parents and kids. Every kid there was going through the same thing. Every adult there was going through the same thing. We all became a great big family in some ways. Everyone helped each other. My mom eventually met her best friend there. Her name was Pam. Pam had two sons, Ian and Anderson. I remember the night my mom met her. Mom took an aerobics class at our local recreation park. Pam was there and recognized mom from seeing Mom walking each evening in the complex. Pam introduced herself and that was the beginning of a relationship that lasted through the years. Pam and Mom went through a lot together.
Later, I found out that after mom put us to bed, and Pam put her boys to bed, they would both go outside and walk from our apartment to hers, and back again. You could see Pam’s apartment from our apartment. They would walk and talk about ex husbands, kids, bills, etc. Pam would help mom by watching us before the bus came. Mom would help Pam by watching her boys while Pam grocery shopped. We all became a little family.
Eventually I met John, the guy that had come to see us at our last house. John worked with my mom. They were friends. John and his wife were recently divorced; ironically, mom and her husband were almost divorced. John came over a few nights a week, until he was there about every night. I liked John. He was very caring. And he built me a doll cradle, which won him a few extra points. Mom laughed when he was there, and I liked seeing her laugh.
Tim and I would go to Dad’s every other weekend. Daddy would take us to eat pizza and take us to bowl. Soon after mom and dad’s separation, once dad realized he was not going to win mom back, he started to date. So on the weekends we were with him, we often would meet or stop by and see his girlfriend, if that is what you would call it. Dad also worked a lot so sometimes I would have to stay at Mamas’ house while he worked. I liked going to dads because my friends were there. I spent a lot of my time when I was at my dad’s with my friend Sharann and her family. Sharon became like a second mom to me. I did a lot of things with them and I ate a lot of meals with them.
When dad found out about John he was not a happy camper. In fact, he tried really hard to make life miserable for my mom. Sometimes dad would even be outside our apartment when John would leave at night, which by the way, was at 9pm every night. I guess that was a rule my mom would not budge on. 9pm, he was out, goodnight, go home, and see you later… Dad was there one night and was trying to start something with John. John being the calm guy he was walked away and left.
December 18th, 1982, we were at my dad’s and he got a phone call. It was the kind of phone call you see your parents get and you just know something is wrong. The next morning when we woke, Dad told us he was taking us to see Mom, she wanted to tell us something. Huh? Mom and Dad in the same room, no way. What was the occasion…?