A prayer for B and JJ - Posted by Stacy (AZ)
Posted by Stacy (AZ) on February 18, 2000 at 20:53:16:
I’ve been working a pre-foreclosure for a few weeks, and it closed today. I handed the sellers a stack of $100 bills about an hour ago for their home…the deal is done. I had to give them cash because no bank will let them open a checking account.
This couple has been married for 24 years, and have raised three children…all in their 20s now. Twelve of those years were in this house.
They are the kindest people, but have had some very hard times. JJ left her husband (B) a couple of years ago, and moved to San Diego. I don’t know why, it’s none of my business, but I can empathize with the pain that must have caused. While she was gone, B somehow fell in lust with crack cocaine. I can only guess why this would happen to a man who, until then, was a hard working, blue collar, 40 year old father and husband. Maybe the loneliness had something to do with it. I wouldn’t doubt it.
JJ happened to return for a visit, to see her kids and B, about six months ago. She couldn’t understand why B was acting so strangely. Her adult children had to tell her that her husband, and their father, was addicted to crack cocaine. He was now unemployed, and going down fast.
JJ did something I’m not sure many wives would have the strength to do. You see, she still loved B very much, and couldn’t stand to see this happening to him. She called the police and had him arrested.
She told me that when she went to see him in jail the first night, he sat in his cell mumbling nonsense; a man who had hit rock bottom.
Flash-forward to today. B has gone to trial, pled guilty, and has received a sentence of one year house-arrest, followed by four years of probation. If he slips even once, he’ll go to prison for several years. He can be at any one of two places for the next year; home or work. Yes, he found work. He is starting at the bottom as a technician at a quick-lube garage. And he is a trained electrical engineer.
They have just found out how difficult it is to find an apartment to rent, when B has a felony on his record. But, they found one, and are living their tonight. They are starting a new life…JJ has decided to accept B’s offer of staying together and working on their marriage. And, as I handed JJ her money, she told me that an old friend called her out of the blue, and offered her a good job, which she’s accepted.
A toast to JJ and B. May they climb out of this hole and live a long, happy life together, and look back at this time as the fire that melded them even closer together.
Stacy