I'm only working part time this summer, but I'm making really good money...so I figured I'd relax a bit before law school starts. All this free time is starting to get to me though...it makes my mind wander to things that are upsetting me.
For example, I'm really mad at both of my parents. (Note: this will be a long vent, so if you want to stop reading, I understand.)
You see, they both ruined my graduation from college & I'm tired of having virtually every major event in my life ruined by their inability to ever put anyone's needs before their own.
To be more specific, my dad is PISSED at my mom...and because he's pissed off at her, he showed up to graduation, was EXTREMELY tense & awkward, barely talked to anyone, didn't seem like he wanted to be there at all, refused to come out to brunch with us, and then took off like a bat out of hell as SOON as the ceremony was done. He flung a card at me, gave me a hug...that was it. No "congratulations", no "I'm proud of you." Nothing.
My dad is mad at my mom...well it's a long story. My mom told me a year or two ago that my dad still owed her alimony from their divorce. (They got divorced 20 years ago). So because he owed her money, rather than ever bringing it to his attention, my mom put a lean on his house (which he has been trying to sell.) The way the lean works in his state is that he would never even know about it unless he specifically LOOKED for it; he would only find out once the house was sold & he didn't get $50k.
So, I knew but my dad didn't. For years. It ate away at me. I didn't want to be in the middle, I'd done enough of that through my entire childhood, so I didn't want to say anything.
So, this past March or so, I was on the phone with my dad and he was so excited about selling his house...that I just couldn't keep it from him any longer. I said, "Dad, we need to have a conversation now, that if anyone asks, we never had." Then I told him about the lean. He was like "WHAT? I paid your mother all of her alimony along with the child support when you were just a child." So, he gets pissed off, then calls his lawyer.
Come to find out, he owes my mom money on a technicality. It took two years for their divorce to be finalized, and in that two years, he had to pay her alimony. (He didn't realize this.) So, initially he owed her around 12k (a drop in the bucket for him, he makes good money.) Well, this 12k has been accruing ridiculous amount of interest (almost 10%) and it's been compounded annually, with a 20 year statute of limitations... so now he owes her somewhere in the ballpark of $50k....and he is PISSED.
I've never seen my dad so upset about ANYTHING in his life. He was screaming, yelling, and cursing.
I understand that if he owes her money, then she should get it. It was his own fault for not reading the divorce decree more thoroughly...but at the same time, I kinda side with my dad.
If my mom knew about this for so many years (she did), why couldn't she just do the decent thing and say "hey, I think you owe me some money." No, instead she had to wait until their little war was over and things were FINALLY settling down & then re-open pandoras box of crazy. Rather than just ever taking the high road, she always has to find a way to one-up/screw over my father.
And it REALLY pisses me off because now I have to continue to suffer because of the two of their pettiness...WASN'T MY CHILDHOOD ENOUGH?!