I am my own Grandpa - A window of opportunity....... part 2

Finally, the day came where she made her break. My mother had not given my brother or I any advance notice. She got us up that morning, fed us and sent us to school as normal. My guess is that she did not want us to talk her out of it or just wanted us out of her way so that she could get it done quickly. She had it all planned out……. My father had just left town on a week long trip. She rented a U-Haul trailer and moved a few things into it. She left behind any big furniture and instead just took our personal belongings and any sentimental items that we had.

For her, along with her brother, Porter, and his wife, Diane, it was a busy day. Their goal was to get everything into the U-Haul and get to our schools before the school bell rang at the end of the day. They had all decided to move to Jacksonville. We would be closer to my grandmother and we would be able to make a fresh start.

So, in the afternoon, before the bell rang, I was called up to the front office. Although, I thought it was strange, I knew that it was not because I was in trouble as I was always the good girl or the teacher’s pet. When I got to the front office my mother was standing there and told me that she had taken me out of school for good as we were moving to Jacksonville. I was allowed to go back to my room, gather any personal belongings and say goodbye to my teacher. Having to say goodbye to him was hard. I was in the 6th grade and Mr. Holbrook had been my favorite teacher since I started Lake Weston Elementary in the 1st grade. The year was almost over and I had no idea what school or what teacher I would end up with to finish out the 6th grade.

Needless to say, I was not happy and neither was my brother, Ronnie. When we got to the car, my two brothers, my aunt and my uncle were waiting for us.

Upon arriving in Jacksonville, we stayed with my grandmother for a couple of nights, but, were able to rent a 2 story house on her street during that same week. My brother and I were enrolled in new schools and I was even chosen as a school patrol, which I loved!

To be able to afford the rent, we all lived together. And also included in the bunch was my Uncle John. My Uncle John had been married to my Aunt Kathleen, who was my mother’s sister. Growing up, we had always been close to their family and I had four cousins that I grew up with. However, they had just divorced, he needed a place to go and we were all short on money. So, we all lived together and split the bills.

For that week, although it was hectic, I felt like our family was getting back to normal and we had peace. But, that was the CALM BEFORE THE STORM……..

On Sunday morning, my father came in from his trip and found us gone. My mother had left him a “Dear John letter”, so he knew where we had gone. Now keep in mind that my mother had never married my father and had never legally adopted my brother, Ronnie.

Sunday afternoon, my father brought the police to my grandmothers house to get all three of his children. My grandmother told them where we lived and after a big fuss between my mother and father, the police told my mother that she would have to give up my brother, Ronnie, or she would be charged with kidnapping. As for Glen and I, my father was told that since my mother had possession of us, she could keep us until a judge decided on custody. My father told my mother to enjoy the time that she had with us, because in the end a judge would give him custody. He told her that she did not stand a chance of keeping us because she could not provide for us on a waitresses salary.

My mother was hysterical because she had my brother, Ronnie, crying for her. She was the only mother that he had known and as far as she was concerned he was her son. As children, we did not understand the law. The only thing that we knew was that we were being torn apart! And the stupid part of it all was that my father really did not want my brother. He did it out of spite for my mother!

After he left, my mother was crying uncontrollably, she had lost her son and stood the chance of losing both of us as well. She felt like a judge might decide that because my father made more money and could provide a housekeeper to watch the children that she would lose us.
Uncle John (my Aunt Kathleen’s ex-husband) told her that it would be a cold day in hell before he let my father get us. Shortly after, he and my mother married.

Okay, this is where things start looking like “I am my own Grandpa!” ---- Stay with me now!
This did not make my Aunt Kathleen happy and therefore we had a family feud going on.

Not to mention, that my uncle was now my step-father and my cousins were now my step-brothers. But, as for us children, we thought that it was kind of neat, we were always close anyway, so now we just teased about being brothers and sisters. John, (what I called my uncle, now) was always very good to me. You see, he had boys and had never had a daughter, so he was happy to call me his daughter. Glen was young and craved the love from John. In this picture that I found in my mothers personal items, Glen and John could pass for father and son. You can see that Glen admired and wanted to be like John.



Although, my mother ended up getting custody of us, our home life went from a wife beating father to a CRAZY aunt stopping by at all hours of the night to fight with my mother and John. She worked nights as a dancer and she would get off work and come by in the early morning hours. I would awake to her screaming. If we ran into her in town, she would literally start beating up on my mother.

So, we ended up moving back to Orlando. For awhile, my cousins Alvie and Billy even came to live with us. We went to school together and told everyone that we were brothers and sisters. John always said that he really cared for my mother and that if they had met years ago, their marriage would have probably survived. However, it was doomed from the start and in a few short years, they divorced.

As for my brother Ronnie, it is too long of a story to start……..

I will let this sink in and then I will tell you about Ronnie. You won’t believe what happened!