It's life, Jim, but not as we know it.

I don't know, I picked the title up from some flash cartoon I watched with my mom eons ago.
To the point of the ridiculous title though... I have no idea which end is up. About three days ago, my wife got up and went to work. Since we have only one working car at the time, she asked her mom to take the kids to an appointment they needed to go to for WIC. I had got to sleep around 9AM and was in need of a few hours, so my wife came home around noon to let me know that they had asked her to work a 16 hour shift. She then set the alarm clock for me so that I mightn't sleep the day away, kiss, love you, bye.

A half hour later, the clock went off, I woke up, checked on the kids, (they're 4 & 2, thus pretty self sufficient for short periods of time) and everything was fine. I returned to the bedroom to watch a movie so as not to interrupt their trance on the cartoons. Mother in-law shows up, hollers to me they're leaving, the kids come in, give hugs and off they go.

Upon their return, I'm still tinkering in the bedroom (arranging DVD's at the time) and mother in-law hollers to me that they're back and eating McDonald's on the couch. OK, cool. It then becomes apparent that I need to go to the living room to confirm my presence before she can leave. So... out I go. Still, at this point, everything is fine.

Skip ahead from what is about 4PM to the wifes return from work around 11PM. She walks in, grabs a box of diapers and heads out without saying anything. I holler to her from the screen door, something along the lines of "hey, what's up?" and get an upset sounding response that I couldn't quite make out (my hearing isn't that great anymore). I give follow to see what's wrong and get the response that she "can't take this shit, working 16 hours and being yelled at".

Now at this point, I'm not sure if someone at work has yelled at her or if her mom has (as she did briefly say something about her mother in her mumbles) yelled at her, but regardless, I think "oh boy, somebody's got another thing commin' (I'm very protective of my wife and kids and nobody is allowed to give them any shit under my law). She then goes on to explain that her mother has informed her that I had been asleep all day (I guess because I wasn't in the living room when they came, went or came back) and that I am a shitty father.

Well, my heart sunk into my shoes instantly. My wife has always praised my devotion to our family on a daily basis, and then this? First, I was well awake and active for the majority of the day. Second, if that weren't the case, is sleeping some sort of dangerous or criminal activity that has placed my children in peril?

We talked briefly (she was in a huge hurry to leave) and she conveyed that she was "fixing the problem" and that I could "expect divorce papers"...




Still, as I type this, my mind is in total shock. We've been together for over seven years. I have always been a devoted, protective, faithful & loving husband and father. I provided for my family for years (excluding the past 12-13 months due to medical and financial reasons), planned family events, never EVER forgot a birthday or anniversary regardless of how horrid my memory is now-a-days, and have always fully backed my wife in every aspect of life. I've expressed my love and need for my family every day I wake since we've been together to the point of making fictitious monthly holidays to celebrate our bonds. I have forgiven my wife for anything and everything that she has ever done that would upset me, regardless of how critical some events may have been. She has always promised me that our bond is forever and nothing will ever come between us. In return, I have been the best man I know how to be.

Today I wake up to her mother calling and asking if she's here. Here? I thought she was THERE. At this point I become worried (even more, just what I need) and start trying to figure out what's going on. I call her father (her mom called from work) and ask him if he knows anything. Of course, he didn't, or at least played dumb, which is my guess.

Now, it's never been a huge secret that her parents have despised me from day one. They've tried (or at least her mother has, I don't know her fathers level of involvement) to split us up MANY times. From when we were dating and/or engaged, to even after we'd been married for some years. I guess that an honest, loving, providing, caring, respectful and loyal man isn't good enough for their daughter... a bit of single child anxiety maybe. Maybe I'm completely out in left field here. Maybe she's devised this on her own, but I defiantly sense a disturbance in the force, or, the devils hand on the mixing spoon, if you will. This isn't a normal course of action for anyone, on any level.

Anyways, after calling her dad, I decided, okay, it's maybe time to think of the kids more than her at this point. I call the county sheriff's office, who is rude and short with me and tells me to call a lawyer. Okay, bad day at work pal? I then contact the Michigan State Police Post in our town. The officer there is very helpful, but a little lost as to what can actually be done. He suggests that I call the parents again and press them for information and maybe drop a few legal references to possibly persuade them to at minimum, tell me where my children are. He says if that doesn't work, to call him back and maybe we can figure something else out.

Back on the phone to her mom. I ask "okay, what's going on?", and get the response of "you know just as much as I do." Okay, right bitch. At this point, it's pretty obvious that even if they haven't pushed her to leave me in the first place (or bribed her), that they ARE covering up for her. She then says to me that she has customers at the store and has to go. How convenient for her, eh? I've come to the conclusion that her mother is a bigger chicken-shit than I had originally figured, but whatever.

Sooooo I call the State Trooper back and let him know I was unsuccessful at getting any information as to the whereabouts of my kids. He then tells me that my wife had just called and mentioned a personal protection order, and that THAT may be why the county was so brash with me. He tells me he's really sorry, but there isn't anything he can do, but that at least now I know where my kids are. Obviously, they're at the in-laws because my wife doesn't have a cell phone, thus she would only have been able to hear from her mother and call the police post if she were there.

While this made me feel ever so slightly better, I'm still in shock and don't think I have really accepted this yet. If I had, I'd more likely be huddled in a corner sobbing, rather than typing this. I guess I needed an outlet. A PPO? Seriously? What exactly is it she needs protection from? I've never harmed her or the children in any way imaginable. I've defended my wife's honor to the point of physical confrontation with others on at least three separate occasions. She's my reason for living, plain and simple. Would I forgive her for this? As much as I tell myself, no I wouldn't, yes... yes I think I would. No, I KNOW I would. My love for her is unconditional. You know, the type of love people say is only possible from a dog to his master. The kind that human beings are not capable of... yeah, that.

So... how do you close a blog like this? No idea. I'm just sitting here trying to talk with friends and play video games and watch movies... anything to keep my mind from jumping off a proverbial bridge and sending me into a death spiral. I already feel as if I'm not me, but someone else, just watching this from a rooftop. If I actually catch up with my body, and reality, I don't know what would happen. All I can do right now is sit here and wait to see if a PPO is delivered to my door. I can't imagine what that will feel like. I can't imagine what it will accomplish either. Other than maybe it's her plan to keep me from my kids. As it stands, the police have told me I can go get my kids any time I want and that they will escort me if I feel there would be any confrontation in said activity. I know my wife, she's a good mother and would fight me to the death for our babies, and it's that, and that alone which is keeping me at bay. I won't claim her unfit or suggest that she's anything other than a fantastic mother, so I won't enrage her further by taking my children away from her.

The only thing that I can think of that may have triggered her actions, or her compliance with her parents wishes if that's the case, is the fact that she's had thyroid removal surgery because of previous mental health issues where her brain had a chemical imbalance due to a dead thyroid and she has had to take 75 micrograms of Synthroid every day since the surgery... but by my calculations, her prescription bottle here is way too full. If she misses her medication, she tends to become enraged, unresponsive and hateful. Now, regardless of weather or not that spawned her original outburst, her medication is here and not with her. So, she's minimally missed 2 or 3 doses and I'm sure, is just an absolute JOY for anyone to be around right now. It also won't help her come back to reality.

The police said I can have her taken to probate court for a mental evaluation due to the medication, but I don't think I'll go that route. Besides the fact that it'd just piss her off even worse, it wouldn't do any good. Even if they did declare she was a little nutty because of missing her medication, all she'd have to say is that she was going to get back on it.

So I guess that pretty much explains the title of my post for today. Kinda wish my mom was still around to tell me what to do. I'm a 28 year old lost child.