November 25, 2006 - 12:07 p.m.
You try to find comfort in the bottom of a glass or your nose inside a book. How to survive raising teenagers offers many different perspectives. The underlying theme is to allow enough time to pass for teens to mature into adults and treat you with love and respect again. If you're one of the luckier parents. I remember the heartwrenching story of the Bundy family. Their story was portrayed in the thought provoking "Soul's Code", one of my favorite books. The Bundys had a son and four other children. Kept a clean home free of alcohol, drugs, pornography. Some would describe their household as rigid, moralistic, God fearing Christian. At an early age, Ted wondered outside the confines of his family home into the back alleys and streets. He searched inside garbage cans and local dumps for a taste of booze, porn magazines, half-smoked cigarettes. He was quite a handful. His inability to socialize with his new stepfather (Johnny Culpepper Bundy) was foretelling. A sad situation that only grew worse after a painful adult breakup with the love of his life. We all know what happened to serial rapist Ted Bundy who finally met his fate in a Florida electric chair. My heart goes out to the Bundy family. They were dealt a dark hand. A bad seed among the rose with thorns. What normal, sane person can defend his/her family and other people against a natural born psychopath. Anti-social personality disorder.
My heart breaks over the continued bad treatment from Bubbles. God knows I tried to be a good parent to him. Encouraged him to attend church and Sunday school. Taught Bubbles how to ride a motorcycle at age 8. Took him camping, fishing, snorkeling, kayaking, paintballing. As a family we went to Europe once, and on several snow skiing vacations. He was enrolled in Montessori school from age 3 to 6 before we moved to California. Somewhere deep inside, I hope his gentle, caring nature emerges before his 18th birthday. It's going to be a crap shoot with that boy of mine.
I also ordered books on how to survive a divorce, weight loss, and one about dating. Being a visual person, all the helpful advice from different people is difficult to read through in one day. Begins to sound like talking heads, multiple personalities offering advice. I need colorful pictures of smiling families who list the ages of their children below their helpful words of wisdom.
While at amazon.com, I ordered a DVD of Rachel and Luce. If I'm to suffer a broken heart, I might as well find comfort in eye candy. You couldn't ask for two more beautiful women on the big screen. Eeerie thing is... I went to the same college exactly 10 years before Rachel. I think in real life she might be a sister. A muffin like me who can rise and fall for the same or opposite sex. What really matters is the recipe, ingredients inside. Of course visual appeal, aesthetics is half the Chef's challenge when presenting the main entree'. Before Ted Bundy was executed, he gave an exclusive interview to Dr. Dobson, focus on the family. Ted attributed violent, hard core pornography to fueling his rage and violence toward women. He also stated most of the violent offenders in prison have a shared taste, common interest in hard porn. What about today's rap music that degrades women/females into whores and bitches? I think it's equally damaging, misogynistic material. Especially among those people who play it over and over again.
I'm going to look at a scooter today if it's still available. If I twist and go to local meetings, I might find cool, hip urbanites who are equally appealing; fun to scoot around with. I usually keep the friends I make. Unless they are too radically opinionated, negative, unfair, bad people to be around. I usually don't beat myself up trying to reach out. Usually the good ones are standing not too far away, with their hands extended outward. You don't have to expend lots of energy and finances to get close to them. Plastic people easily break in half, turn the other way when the money dries up... or when compliments drop down to normal levels.
~ Soldier Girl
