Thursday, July 12, 2018

Don't Burn Down the Village Trying to Stay Warm (part 7 of series) by Rory Andes

What goes up must come down. If you ever get a divorce or think of getting married, make sure you have the resources for a lawyer. That's actually sound advice for many things, but a divorce was the catalyst for my ensuing need for an attorney. I wound up with a twelve year prison sentence directly related to my previous marriage and the divorce that followed. In fact, the divorce was finalized while waiting for the outcome of that criminal litigation. I was crushed. Kristen was too, but she never faltered.

I screwed things up in dealing with an already bad situation. The legal process is an absolute nightmare if you have no idea how to navigate it. Its a process that must be perfectly managed and most have no idea what to do. I've explained it to those that don't know that its like buying a home from a realtor who hates you, and you have to buy it. You may get the money pit, you may break even. But you have to buy the house (and you just can't afford it either way).

I received twelve years, with a decade to served in prison. Shit. We had no idea what to do or how the processes work. We had no idea of what the future looked like and it was daunting. But Kristen knew my character. She knows who I am and she chose to support me. She was in my corner. She had my back. Something there is never a way to truly thank her for.

To me, it was like a military deployment of sorts. Another trip to a far off place that I didn't want to die in and wanted to get through to see my family again. As far as I knew, to Kristen, it might as well have been a death sentence, but she never really showed her weakness about it. She's not the crying type and she was a mother raising a five month old. I know she was scared to death at the prospect of doing this shit alone. She cried twice on the phone and once at a visit in the beginning. My soul hurt for her and us...

Rory Andes

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