My First Marriage ~ Part Two

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So, my uncle was gone and my family was trying to get back to some normalcy. I was 19 and I knew my aunt was having a hard time so I went over to stay with her and help her with her two children. I washed dishes, cooked, and cleaned so she didn't have to stand on her poor legs. A young man started coming over for early morning coffee from next door. I remember holding his cup back, and not washing his cup because it smelled of his cologne, English Leather. He was such a nice guy. I later found he was a cousin and was staying next door with his aunt. He was about five years older than I was. He would come over to do odd jobs and just hang out with the kids. He was a nice guy and I was crushing on him. He was so good with those poor kids and I was taking notice. We started writing notes to one another and going for late-night walks. We soon became a couple and got married in December of 1970. I became pregnant almost immediately. Our daughter was born October 14, 1971. I have some great memories of the months soon after her birth. We took baths together, went for long walks, and just spent some quality time. He was a real hands-on Dad. For a while. I don't recall any issues between him and me until our daughter was a few months old. This one particular day we had gotten into an argument. He was trying to manipulate me, was unhappy with me, and, at one point, went to push me and nearly caused me to drop my daughter. This freaked me out. It was the first time anyone had ever been physical with me. This was not a one-time thing. Another time he slapped me. That was it. One time could have been a one-time thing but not the slap. I packed our things and went to my grandparent's house. He begged me to come back. Promised it would never happen again. I would have none of it. He even got me to go with him to a priest. I listened respectfully to all that the priest had to say about new marriages, blah, blah, blah. No. He had had his second chance and it only accelerated. He even told my husband that I was pretty steadfast in my position and, that there wasn't anything he could do as far as a reconciliation between us. No. His getting physical wasn't going to stop. I just knew that. I went on to get a divorce and raised my daughter with the help of my mother and grandmother. He was supposed to pay $75 a month in child support but never paid one cent. He did see her one time at the park when she was a toddler. He came over and asked me a couple of questions about her and then left. Then when she was about 7 or 8 he called and wanted to come take her for a ride on his motorcycle. They were gone only about 30 minutes. We never heard from him again after that. He died about ten years later of a form of brain cancer with a name about a mile long.