for what i’m about to write, i apologize. because some of what i’m going to say, i’m sure i’ve said a million times. probably even devoted blog posts to it. that fact doesn’t make it less true. so. i reiterate.
those of you who know me and read my blog probably already know the nitty gritty details of what my life entails right now. if you don’t know me and you read my blog…i’ve probably read your blog in a “next blog” kind of clicking situation. maybe. who knows? i don’t fool myself into believing that anyone awaits my next blog post with bated breath because…hello…you would have suffocated, or at very least passed out, numerous times in the waiting. i hit these patches of either “have too much to write about that i’m not totally willing to share with the English-speaking, random-button-clicking world,” or “i am completely blocked and can’t think of a rational word to say in a blog post.” actually, that last one is two-phenomenon-packed into one…the first part being “blocked” and the second part being the absence of “rational.” too often it all comes together and just translates to “not writing.”
i’m avoiding this post. can you tell?
in the almost-three years since my separation, i have never had to hire a lawyer, file anything in court, or walk into a court room. i have no understanding of the criminal legal process or the family legal process or the civil legal process…and i am absolutely, perfectly fine with that truth. in the past three weeks, all of that beautiful, delicate naivete came crashing to the floor and shattered into a billion pieces.
sometimes i look in on my life and can’t believe it’s mine. (enter deja vu)
my life already includes or has included words i never expected to become part of my everyday vocabulary. divorce. ex-husband. single parent. remarried. child support. spousal support. visitation. custody. separation agreement.
it now includes words like “request for suspension of custody and visitation pending further ruling of the court.” words like “docket sheets,” “Court of Common Pleas,” “bondsman,” “felony counts,” “maximum penalties,” “Legal Guardian,” “State Attorney General.”
no, friends. i’m not in trouble with the law. but boy, am i learning all about what happens if you are.
and what it means to explain those kinds of words to your children.
oh, yes. fun times in our house these past few weeks. fun. times.
it boggles my mind the things people are willing to do because “oh, i’ll never get caught.”
stupid. stupid. stupid.
All Is Grace 
#1 by romanhokie on October 11, 2013 - 9:04 pm
I had already read this but am finally getting around to responding. Yes, it’s incredible how little we know about our justice system (civil, family, and criminal) in the good old US of A until, well, we find ourselves in the middle of it.
For my job (as a counselor, even), I work with other mental healthcare professionals, medical healthcare professionals, some insurance companies (including Medicaid), lawyers, CPS, parole and probation officers, and, yes, judges.
My counseling education never prepared me for the legal stuff, but in working with these people? Very supportive and I learned quickly that I’m a big part of whether someone goes into the prison system or, well, doesn’t.
Praying.