The circle of life

So, today my oldest daughter had her first child. At 7:20pm pacific Evangelene Clara was born.

It would be an understatement to say that this child is a miracle. Yes, I know that is what you would expect a grandparent to say about their first grandchild. But, you see, a year ago I thought my daughter was headed for an early grave with the life she was living. It is frightening for any parent to think about having to bury their own child. But, she was lost to a life of drugs.

In the course of a year I have seen my precious daughter turn her life around so completely. A new life given to save another life. Yes, someday I will tell "Angel", as I will call her, that she saved her mothers life.

So, you see. A miracle did take place.

Standing your ground

So, I find myself in a bit of a quandry these day. What should someone do when they find themselves in a position where they feel very strongly about something, yet all their friends and even family think they are wrong?

I find myself in such a position these days. My tolerance for Tubbi has reached its end and I am ready to say goodbye to him and never give him a second thought. Everyone thinks I am wrong for how I feel. However, I have reconsidered the issue in every way that I can possibly imagine and I still come back to what my instincts tell me about the man. They tell me he is dishonest, and self serving. So, what should I do?

I recall a short time ago Tubbi was living in Oregon. I went to visit him and a large group of mutual friends we have up there. When Tubbi would leave they would all complain incessantly about him. They would say how he is dishonest, untrustworthy, and how he was a puppet to his ex-wife. I refused to believe it and I chalked it up to their backbiting and misunderstanding of him.

Tubbi has a way of acting stupid and innocent in his day to day dealings with people. When he makes a mistake people say he is just dumb and they forget about it. When he does something that is wrong they say "oh, Tubbi isn't smart enough to do something like that deliberately".

So, here we are still waiting for our student loans and hurting for money. We've had to borrow to pay our power bill, and are very low on groceries. Many times in the past we have helped Tubbi. When he was working for the railroad he had a hard time buying food. So, we would buy him groceries without asking for anything in return. This past weekend he came to the house and dropped off an air tank for paintball. He told my wife that he bought a new one and didnt need mine anymore. I contacted him later that day and asked if he wanted to buy it. He said sure, and said he'll look at the finances and get back to me. I told him we were strapped for cash and needed money for groceries and that I'd appreciate it if he would let me know soon. The next day comes and my wife sees him. She tells him that we need the money for groceries, still he puts us off. Then I find out that he leaves town without giving us an answer. Meanwhile, we have little to prepare for dinner.

Does that sound like a man that holds you in regards as a friend? That appreciates what you have done for him and wants to pay you in kind? He said later that he was bringing me some money today(Tuesday). However, like everything he says these days I dont believe him.

I told Emmerick of this and he basically came in defense of Tubbi. He said I am being immature and petty. That if I am really hard up I should just get a job. That I need to get my house in order.

So, I am sober, and looking at this with open eyes. I rail against Tubbi for being heartless and self serving, and everyone comes to his defense saying basically to leave the dumb kid alone.

My hats off to you Tubbi, your schtick works great.