How I Met My First Husband

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One morning about 5a. my grandmother came down to knock on our door. Mom and I were worried when she said she hadn't heard from my uncle like she was supposed to have. He always called her when he was out of town and let her know his plans. She was worried and had some bad intuitive thoughts. Later we found out that Uncle Fred, my uncle Jimmy and my aunt Leatha had gone into the reservoir in the military Jeep they had been trying out. My Uncle Fred perished trying to help my uncle Jimmy (not a real family member but a very good friend) since he was paralyzed on one side of his body. My Aunt had crawled up an 100-foot bank and made it out to the highway where a man had picked her up. She was the only survivor. What a horrible time. My Uncle Fred had been such a light in the family We all loved him so. Uncle Jimmy was a real loss. What a nice man and good friend. I knew my aunt was having a bad time of it and so I went over to her house to stay with her and the two cousins and help out where I could. Next door was a cute little duplex where a cousin of my aunt lived and she had a relative staying with her. His name was Jim and he was about 25. (I was 19.) He had known the family and would come over and take the kids out once in a while. Uncle Fred had all kinds of outdoor equipment and I'm sure Jim enjoyed using them as much as taking the kids out. He worked as a construction worker and would come over occasionally in the mornings to have coffee with us. He wore Brut cologne. After he would leave the smell of it lingered on his mug as I washed the morning dishes. He and I started writing notes back and forth and my cousins would deliver them. Then we began taking walks and got pretty friendly. Next thing we know we are married and living in a cute little apartment down in Garden City. I was pregnant immediately and our daughter was born and came home to that apartment. He was an okay dad for a while. We would take long walks around town visiting relatives and friends. The baby enjoyed the rides in the baby carriage. But one day he and I got into an argument. I was carrying the baby in my arms and he slapped me. I stepped back and nearly lost my footing and lose the baby out of my arms. Luckily, I was able to keep her and kept upright. I left with my daughter and went to my grandmother's. He promised it would never happen again. Even got me to go see a priest. (he was a catholic) The priest talked to me a few minutes and then turned to Jim telling him I wasn't coming back to him. There was nothing he could do. Right on! He never paid child support, not once. He saw our daughter at the park one day and asked me if she was smart. Then I didn't see him for years. About seven or eight years. He called one day out of the blue and wanted to come and see her. He took her for a ride on his fancy motorcycle. They were gone about 30 minutes. We never saw him again. I later got a letter saying he had died of some brain cancer with a name about a mile long. Karma's a B*tch!!