(10/13) “Everyone I’d looked up to: the best families, the best Christians. They abandon
(10/13) “Everyone I’d looked up to: the best families, the best Christians. They abandoned me. On the first Sunday after Tripp went to prison, I brought all my kids to church. I just wanted to maintain a sense of normalcy. I was scheduled to do a reading that day in front of the congregation. My shoulders were shaking the entire time, but I made it through. Afterwards an older woman came up to me. She said: ‘I can’t believe you would get up there, after what your husband did.’ I’d been with the same Bible study group for ten years. But none of them stood by me. They didn’t visit, they didn’t call. When I met with my divorce attorney, he asked me what I was planning on doing for money. He reminded me that there’d be no child support coming from prison. When I told him that I was going to try real estate, he suggested that I find a real job. This was the height of the housing crisis. Even the good agents were getting out of the business. But I had no other choice. I’d only ever worked as a waitress. The only thing I had was my real estate license. Whenever I saw a ‘For Sale By Owner’ sign in the yard, I’d knock on the door and beg the person to let me list their house. I’d have all my research ready: what they paid, nearby listings, taxes. I remember the first client that ever hired me was a man named Neil. He lived on Central Avenue. He opened the door, and asked me: ‘How long have you been doing real estate?’ I didn’t want to lie to him. But I wasn’t going to say ‘ten minutes’ either. So I told him: ‘It feels like I’ve been doing this my whole life.’ Sometimes I’d work for seventy hours a week. My oldest son John was only sixteen at the time, but he became man of the house. He’d help watch the kids after school. He’d do their homework with them. Sometimes I’d hear him talking to his sisters behind closed doors. He’d say: ‘Don’t listen to any of it. We know who we are.’ I hated that he had to grow up so fast. I never wanted him to bear half of my cross. I knew he was hurting too. He was mourning the loss of someone that he thought was a good man. But he kept telling me: ‘Don’t worry about it, Mom. Just do what you need to do. I’ll take care of the rest.’” -- source link
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