I-10 heading West

So, I was heading west on Interstate 10 to Lafayette. I had just left the "camp". John was snoring thanks to the bottle of wine he drank at dinner. I had just gotten over pneumonia (too much work and travel) and the thought of drinking wine made me nauseous. I called my sister. She wasn't answering. She must have been out with friends. I called John's ex wife. Let's call her Annie. She was wonderful. She called him a "son of a bitch" with her lovely Baton Rouge accent. First reference to Red Flags--there will be many in this blog. John had cheated on Annie, mother of his 3 boys when they were all in diapers or pull-ups. I know what you're thinking. Why would I think a man that cheated on the mother of his 3 toddlers would be a decent husband? I know, I know. I thought he had matured, it was different, blah, blah, blah.

Back to my 2 hour drive (shortened to 1.5 hours thanks to hysterical driving) back to Lafayette. Notice I don't refer to Lafayette as "home"? It never was home. That needs some explaining...

Flash back to early 2005. We had dated long distance. I lived in Tampa and he lived in the armpit of the United States. We decided I would move to Louisiana because he had 50% custody of his 3 boys. The older one was in 9th grade and the twins were in 7th grade. I was getting married and becoming a step mother in one step! I visited. We planned. We looked for houses. We decided on a new house in a development on the edge of town. You can buy a lot of house for a little money in Louisiana. It was fabulous. A huge kitchen, a kick ass master bath. The boys would have their own area upstairs. We would have privacy. It was going to be great! I talked to John about being a step parent. I bought books on step parenting. I talked with my friends about what to expect from 3 teenage boys.

I put my house up for sale. My lovely bungalow with the porch swing. I remember the day the previous owners accepted my offer back in 2003. I was ecstatic. It had a porch swing, hardwood floors and a pool. It was my dream home. A bidding war started the day I put my dream house up for sale. I settled on an offer that was a lot more than I had paid. It was so easy. This had to mean that marrying John was my destiny, right?