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Sunday, February 19, 2012

70. Knock Knock

I pulled out of Pat and Jack's driveway, said, "Goodbye" to Harlingen and hit the gas. I planned to make the trip in two days so I wasn't in any real hurry on either day. I was heading to my folks in Shreveport but I knew that ultimately I would end up in Birmingham.

My sister and brother-in-law Jo and Gary and two of their five children came to visit us in Harlingen a month earlier. Jo is a friend I met at The University of Montevallo back when life was simple. I married her brother in 1986. My mother-in-law came to visit us too.

Jo and Gary became witnesses to our marital dysfunction and offered me helpful advice. Get the hell out or I'll kick your ass! They helped me see that life without my marriage was possible. I grabbed hold of their reassurance and within a month I was heading North with little more than the shirt on my back.

I had a lot to think about, loose ends to tie, and plans to make. I was really scrambling and flying by the seat of my big girl panties but I was flying! If I remember correctly, Sean was a complete angel. Either that or I was so enthralled in deciding my next move that the autism took a back seat. Everything was uncertain except that I was soon to be divorced. I had planned to file in Alabama so the jurisdiction would be there instead of Texas. There were no emotional ties to Harlingen except to my friends Pat and Jack.

We made it to my parents home after two exhausting days of travel. It was nice to be home. I knew between my dad and I, we could make headway on some plans. We wasted no time. It was a chocked full two weeks before the children and I rested in our apartment in Birmingham. Before this could happen, my dad and I had to caravan down to Harlingen - he, driving a Penske truck and me in my Toyota. We had a day to pack my things. My husband had been generous enough to get some of his co-workers to meet us and help with the heavy things. Then dad and I packed the smaller things. While doing so, there was a knock on the door. I answered it. The man asked me if I was "Peggy Owen" and as quick as I could say, "ye...", the papers were served and he was gone in a flash.

After a complete meltdown, my dad had me in a lawyer's office within the hour.

During this whole ordeal, I learned a lot from watching my father. It would serve me well in the years to come.