The Divorce.

I was nine years old and it was almost summertime. My brother and I were driving with my dad in his truck. We always went places with my dad so I did not expect anything other than an enjoyable drive with my daddy. When we got to Stanton (Kentucky) he hit us with the news. As we were turning right off the main road coming from Mt. Sterling, he told us that they (my parents) were not going to be married anymore and that my mom was going to take us and move to California, far away from him. He asked me if I wanted to be with him or move far away with my mom. I told him that I wanted to be with him. Of course, I did not want my mom to take us far away from him, from Kentucky, from my grandparent's, from my cousins, from my aunts, from my home, from everything that I knew and loved. How could my mom want to do this to us?
Well, I know now that she didn't want to do this. She had planned on staying in Kentucky, she loved and still loves Kentucky. She wasn't going to take me from everything that I knew and loved...but in the end she did. And I don't blame her one bit. She had good reasons.
After I told my dad that I wanted to stay with him, everything happened pretty quickly. I'm not sure if it was the next day or a week later that my life changed.
My mom got up as usual and went to work. I'm not sure if I went to school that day. I do remember being at my Mamaw & Papaw's house with a bunch of our stuff packed into the back of my dad's truck. I kissed my kitten good-bye and off we went before my mom came home from work.
My next memory is being at my Great-Aunt Dorothy and Great-Uncle Eugene's (my Mamaw's brother's) apartment in Bradenton, Florida. I have some really wonderful memories here during this time. My Uncle Eugene is a wonderful person with a great love for children. He was so kind and loving and fun! We spent a lot of time at the beach. I chased alot of lizards crawling up the apartment's outer walls and found a neighbor's huge pet turtle. I played video games at a restaraunt and always got quarters at the grocery store to use however I wanted; usually on one of the laying hen machines to get a "special" plastic egg with a prize inside. I remember going to McDonald's a lot too! And having pancakes at a restaraunt that had lots of different kinds of syrup. We went fishing off of the pier (a lot) while watching people reel in little sharks. This was vacation!
I was having so much fun in Florida that sadly I didn't miss my mom until my dad handed me the phone and there she was on the other end. I cried. I did miss my mommy. It was the end of summer and I had not talked to her once.
My dad had finally called her and she quickly let him know how sorry and wrong she was for wanting a divorce. She wanted to work it out. They decided that they would start over in Florida. He caught the next available flight to Kentucky and they drove back to Florida with a few of our things stuffed into the trunk.
I was so excited to see my mom! Shortly after they arrived, they decided to take a nap. Around a half hour or so later my mom came out and said to get our shoes on because we were going to go to the mall. I argued with her because I wanted to wear my leather sandals and not my tennis shoes. She quickly gave in.
We started driving and after a bit I let her know that she was not going in the right direction. The mall was the other way. She said that we were going to a different mall. I knew she was lying. We stopped at a gas station where she used the pay phone. When she got back in, I told her I needed to use the restroom. She knew I was lying. I was planning on going to the payphone and calling my dad because he had warned me that she might try to take us and made me memorize the phone number. As we were driving again, I started to panic and threatened her that I would throw myself out of the car. I tried to open the car door to do so but she grabbed me and let me know that that was not going to happen.
We ended up at a really fun amusement area/park near the airport while we waited for my grandfather (my mom's father) to fly in from Sacramento. And then the long drive to California began.
We first drove to Charlotte, North Carolina and stayed with some of step-grandma's family. There was a little girl almost the same age as me and we played games like Cootie. It was a fun sleepover.
On the drive to California I remember huge mosquitoes in Arkansas, I remember crossing the Mississippi River, I remember a huge storm in Texas that was so bad we could not see the car in front of us, I remember putting quarters in to make the hotel beds vibrate, I remember hanging up towels in the windows so we could sleep at rest stops, I remember having a discussion about Santa Claus with my brother, I remember my Grandpa yelling at us to be quiet, I remember eating cold hot dogs with cheese in the middle, I remember the desert, and I remember getting to Los Angeles.
The divorced happened and my father was not allowed into the state of California. If he did so he would be arrested. I guess that's what happens when you kidnap your own children. I did not talk to him again until my 12th birthday, almost 3 years later.
When my dad got back to Kentucky (hoping we were there), he found a check that belonged to an account that my mother had hidden from him. He took all of the money she had saved to help us after the divorce. We came to California with nothing.
While we were in Florida (on "vacation" with dad), my mother was devastated. She drove all the way to Texas because she was told we were there. We weren't. She did not know where we were, she could not find us, she could not see us, she could not hear us, she could not hold us, she could not tell us how much she loved us. As a mother, I can see what a horrifying experience this must have been and I don't blame her for taking us to California. I would have done the same.