War Eagle

my parents divorced when i was 1 year old. my dad gave me up for adoption to my stepdad and lost all rights to me by the time i was 18 months old. this pretty much guaranteed he could continue to be the irrepressably irresponsible party boy he had always been.

i didn't even find out he existed until i was 10 years old. my mom told me and cried. we were sitting on the floor in her master bathroom, cleaning out cabinets. i remember not being surprised. i remember feeling like i already knew.

i did not actually spend time with him, get to know him, until i was 26 years old and started visiting him periodically, in louisiana. we got along great. i saw he and my mom in the same room once, about this time. it was very very weird. i can't describe the feeling.

last night i talked with him on the phone for a long time. while i was talking to him, my mom called on the other line and things suddenly got exciting. i clicked to my mom, told her i was talking to bio-dad, she says, "tell (G) i said WAR EAGLE." (this is her college football team - Auburn, fierce rivals with his college team - LSU) she had told me earlier that week that her team had kicked his team's ass and she was thrilled. i clicked back to him, i gave him the message. he said, "oh yeah, tell her the only reason LSU lost is because of bad coaching!" i clicked back to her, gave her the message. when i hung up with both of them, i realized i had just been in the middle of a fight between my divorced parents for the first time ever in my life.

and i loved it.

kids dealing with fighting divorced parents has got to suck, i never experienced that. what i experienced was people so completely disconnected that fighting would have been a healthy step for them.

i have to say, i wish my parents would fight with each other through me more often. it felt like we were some kind of family in some kind of way. finally.