The journey from there to here
Published on August 27, 2004 By Gideon MacLeish In Misc
For this blog to make sense, I am going to have to go back a bit to a time I don't like to revisit.

One of my past stepfathers (a man we'll call John Doe) was a man my mother met in a casino in Wendover, Nevada, and married in jail when he was in on a burglary charge. He was also the most sadistic man I ever met. One example of his twisted ways of doing things was when he beat me severely for leaving a coat at school (until I was bleeding rather steadily), then took us to the Great Salt Lake the following day, with my sores still fresh, for a swim, and forced me to go in the water. That was an incredible amount of pain for an 11 year old boy to endure.

John was also sexually twisted. I honestly don't think he ever met a minor he didn't sexually abuse, all of us kids and the neighbor kids included. It was for these acts that he was eventually put in prison (he was released some years back).

My mother kept his surname, despite twice remarrying, but, as I've come to know and understand mental illness, I just wrote that off.

Flash forward to the very recent past. Before my mom took off on a tizzy, she was around when my wife went into preterm labor (she split when my wife was still in Vegas, leaving us with no transportation to get back and forth). She had a friend of hers and his wife look after the kids (we'll call him Bob).

So, as we're driving back from one of the trips into Vegas, my mom is speaking with me, and she says "You known who Bob reminds me of?".

I was clueless, "Uh, no, not really."

"He reminds me of John," she replied, with that dreamy tone in her voice that most teenagers use when referring to their favorite teen idol.

And she expected me to trust this man with my KIDS?!?

signing off,

Gideon MacLeish

Comments
on Aug 27, 2004
I am so sorry that your mom has this mental illness which leads her to people like that.
I can tell you have forgiven her for this but I hope you never forgive j Doe.
Hopefully he'll die soon so you can piss on his grave.
And yes, it is truly disturbing.
on Aug 27, 2004
well, it's my hope that one of John Doe's many victims (I know of at least 12, personally), finds his home address.
on Aug 27, 2004
at least you know enough to know what her comments mean. But you would have known soon enough. We always do.

J.
on Aug 27, 2004
Yes, and all I can do where my mother is concerned is pity her. For 55 years, she's lived in a world where she's convinced everyone's out to get her.
on Aug 28, 2004
Gideon,
Sounds like you haven't had the easiest of lives......but , from what I have gathered from reading your articles, you have overcome it and become a decent individual despite your hardships. I wish the best for you and hope that your employment situation at present is soon something of the past.
Best of luck, Gideon, and I wish you and yours all the happiness in the world.