Current Events > I owe my mother more than I will ever comprehend.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Over the past few months, I've been going through a pretty rough time with my dad passing away. I knew my dad was on drugs for pretty much my whole life, and I knew that was why my mom decided to leave him when I was very young. I think I was about 1 year old at the most when they split. I never knew the details surrounding it, though.

I drove to Pensacola, FL to visit my dad while he was in the hospital. That Friday, we (myself, my aunts and uncles) had to decide on how we would deal with his end of life care. We decided to put him in hospice care. He died about a week and a half later.

During that whole process, I was able to reconnect with a lot of family on my dad's side. A lot of them haven't seen me in ~30 years. Neither my mom or dad ever talked about the story behind why they split up. All my mom would tell me is that he was on drugs and that's why she left. Over the past couple months, I've learned the story from multiple perspectives. My mom, aunts, uncles, etc.

My dad was promoted to plant manager at some construction company and we lived in a relatively nice house in Pensacola, FL. While taking my cousin home, he was driving drunk in the company car and hit some lady while she was crossing the street. She sued the company for $2 million and my dad lost his job.

That started a downward spiral into him doing drugs. My grandparents on my dad's side brought him back to Pollard, AL so they could help him get better. They paid for his rehab and everything. After graduating from rehab, I guess he went back to the same environment and started doing drugs again.

My mom tried to stay and help, but eventually she had had enough of it all. She worked for IBM and her manager was aware of what was going on. Her manager got her a position in Austin, TX to help her get away from my dad. She took me with her. I was about 3 years old when we moved to Austin, and I grew up here. I'd go back and visit my dad every now and then, but I grew up with out him for the most part.

I was talking to my mom about this again on Thanksgiving. This was the first time she told me that she had regrets about how she handled it. She moved to protect me, herself, and her career. She said she wonders whether he would have actually been better off if she had stayed instead. I had never considered this before she said that.

I told her I think she made the right decision. It could have also gone the complete opposite direction, meaning she'd get dragged down by it all, lose her job, etc. Then who the hell knows whether I'd still be around at all.

So yeah. I've always been thankful that my mom took care of me, but now that feeling has been amplified in ways I can't even describe.
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sounds like a lot to process
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Your mom is an amazing woman.
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