Today is six years since Patricia filed for divorce; Wednesday was four years since her arrest.

            Montie was five, Jessica nine, Glen thirteen – add two year for the arrest.

            I have not been lonely during the six years, no girlfriend for the last three years, but children who love and respect their father. They, more then anyone else understand the burden we carry.

            Jessica wrote this poem when she was ten:

“There is a Dad”

There is a dad in the world

Who cares so much for his kids

He loves his kids so much

When he’s there they have no fears

When this dad is with his kids

Their hearts are filled with joy

This family cares for each other

They could not be pulled apart

This dad is the most loving dad

That’s been placed upon the earth

He gives his kids love

That is stronger then any cure

I am very proud to say

That this dad belongs to

me

            There are those dear friends who stuck with us through all this craziness, there to listen, there to care. One of them wrote this poem in 2005, yes, she knew Patricia before the divorce.

“Saved”

Bubbly, she fell into my house as a

New friend and scattered the children around her.

I smiled and listened attentively.

As she bobbed and chatted I wondered

If she was too good to be true?

When she finally left I was amazed

At the quietness of my small house!

You could hear a pin drop.

When we walked she told me how

Her mother hated her so for being

Who she said she was;

A left over from an extra marital affair?

There was a spring in her step, as she

cheerfully recounted a rape

And all its repercussions.

When she called I answered.

When she called again, I answered again.

When she called again and again and again,

We took turns telling each other we wouldn’t

answer.

She poured such a pity party on the internet

People sent her money.

Her lover could sneak in and out.

Only a child, but If he’d just told her he loved her

he wouldn’t be standing in a cold shower…

If the other one had just done everything in

the right order.

And a daughter blossoms into

Woman-hood while her mother plots to kill…

Saved…

Protecting himself and what’s his, the former

Peace keeper, but constant provider now goes to war.

He fights to save his children and his sanity

            And there are the special ones, the ones without whom you could not go on, the ones who give everything to provide you the strength to fight. One such special person wrote this poem in 2004.

“The Children’s Poem”

I found an oyster cracker

In my purse today

Along with a brown crayon

Two small little items,

simply making my day.

I thought of the precious little boy

Sitting at dinner Saturday night

Playing games, giggling conversation,

happily by my side.

I was humbled by his presence

And the happy way he seemed

This adorable little boy has

been through so many things.

I thought about his Daddy

And the trials and triumphs he’s gone through

But most of all, I thanked the Lord

For showing him what to do.

Three beautiful, precious beings

He holds firmly in his care

Only their Daddy carries the burden

So they won’t have to fear.

I ponder to myself

How could he have done such a job?

Of taking these three lives and walking

Them through an uphill walk.

And again, I hear Jesus speaking

Closely to me…

Remember, my child, that this family

Was carried by shoulders that sustained

A heavy cross

And when they thought they could take

No more

I carried them across.

 
Beautiful Words, I am blessed.

Pault Brandt " I Do"