In the beginning . . .

There was void and the earth was without form. Oh, not that far back. Something relevant. I was first married on July 25th, 1987. My first son was born in February of the next year, and we moved to Ohio. Katie was born in July of 1990, followed by two brothers in 1992 and 1994. It was in 1994 that the next door neighbor went to jail for eight counts of Gross Sexual Imposition involving her and three other girls (including his own granddaughter).

Thanksgiving of 1997, and my marriage was breaking up. I stayed in a hotel for a couple of weeks, then came home and the soon to be ex took the too younger boys the Florida for Christmas. Superbowl weekend came, and a big blowup.

On January 27th, 1998 the sherriff showed up at work to get my keys, telling me I couldn't go home. I had been accused of domestic violence. Five months later I finally saw my kids again. Two months later my ex gives me custody of Katie and her older brother, and she moves to Albuquerque with the two younger boys and her boyfriend. I see the younger boys for two hours at Christmas. June 8 1999 the divorce is final, I am given custody of all four kids - I fly to Albuquerque to pick up the younger two as soon as their school is out.

May of 2002 I buy my first house, and June 7 2003 I marry Diane. She moves down from Minneapolis to Dayton a month later. There are (understandably) some rocky times, but things seem to go well. The kids haven't heard from their mother in over a year - she claimed to have moved. Life goes on.
Mike