Before I begin, let me apologize for once again gracing the pages of JU. I promised I would leave, and I fully meant it up until I discovered a couple of (two months old) messages from former JUers.

As many of you know, there was a great deal of conflict that erupted over things that occurred between me and the family of another JU member almost three years ago. While many lies were spread (such as the fact that I NEVER raised my children in a home without utilities or had my wife isolated without access to a phone and am willing to PROVE it with billing statements from both entities covering the last seven years if need be), there were also many demons exposed that I DID need to confront (namely, eating problems and a tendency to isolate myself from problems rather than confront them). I dealt with those problems and moved on.

But apparently there are those on JU who intend to keep their vow and pursue me to my grave, or theirs, whichever comes first. I can't speak to that behavior, but it doesn't seem healthy to me. In the wake of everything that erupted, I evaluated my options, spoke extensively with my wife, and worked to change some of the things that needed changing. I tend to bring a lot of things on myself, and the fact is, the overcommitments I had made of my time (trying to finish full time college while working full time, trying to raise a family, AND serving on community boards) had left me emotionally drained. I quit the volunteer work (for the time), and cut back the school hours to a sustainable level. I did finish my four year degree and am working on my career. Sometime in the future, grad school is in the plans, but we'll leave that to a time when I can manage the schedule (probably not within the next year or two).

I can't word an apology lengthy enough or sufficient enough to erase the hard feelings some of you have to me here on JU, and I'm not going to try to win back your trust. Please, however, in considering your feelings toward me, consider this: I COULD have taken the "easy way out" by changing my username, erasing articles, and doing other things to try to mask who I am, I COULD have left the area where we live and try to start fresh somewhere else, but I didn't. And that should count for something.

I'm not going to stick around here, but please know that I think of each of you fondly and miss the community here on JU (even if it wasn't always a healthy participation on my part. All I am asking of you this Christmas season is the chance to move on.

Please.