I’ve decided to begin a series of installments entitled “The Ex-Files” which will be all about my ex. From this point on, he will be addressed as CP.

I met CP when I was dating his cousin LM. I should have listened to all the negative talk about CP during that time but I didn’t. He was married with a kid, he was a deadbeat dad, he always took the credit for things he didn’t do, he exaggerated the truth all the time, he was lazy, he was nit-picky worse than any woman….so many things that I didn’t listen to.

After my break up with LM, I was devastated. He was my first love and I was just 17-18 years old. I was heartbroken! My mother was tired of me moping around the house (I was off work for the summer) so she sent me on a Greyhound bus to stay with my grandmother for a couple of weeks. It helped because I met a few new people and I realized it wasn’t the end of the world.

When I returned home, I was still sad but I realized I was more upset about the Italian family that treated me as their family and I loved that. I never felt like I was a part of anything and they made me feel like I belonged. I loved them. I still love them. It was just sad to me that because I was no longer dating LM that I had also lost his family; his aunts and uncles, cousins, sisters, brother….

Fast forward a few weeks and almost time for me to go back to work. (I worked for the school district at that time.) I was trying to figure out how I was going to spend the rest of my summer when LM’s cousin CP called me. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers were going to be at the State Fair and he wanted me to go with him. I thought, “Heck, why not?” Of course, I was still living at home and out of respect had to seek permission from my parents. Mom was eager for me to go out again but I think she was thinking more along the lines of getting rid of me, lol. Not murder, but just getting me out of the house.

The State Fair was great, Tom Petty was awesome, and to top it off Stevie Nicks pulled up behind the stage in a long white limo! She got out of the limo in one of her beautiful gypsy-style dresses and came onto the stage! I always loved her style! She sang the duet, Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around with Tom and it was magical! It was a great show and I honestly don’t recall anything other than the concert.

We started seeing each other after that and I freakin’ knew better! In retrospect, I think I was excited to get the family back! It was awkward at first, going to see them all. I’m pretty sure they thought there must be something wrong with me to be dating CP!

I was really happy to have the family back but now I realize that what I really wanted (what I really, truly needed) was to be accepted for who I was and to not be treated as though I was stupid or couldn’t think for myself. My mother was sweet when other people were around, but when it was just her and us kids she wasn’t the same. It was rough living under the same roof as someone who acted like they were disappointed in me and seemed to never accept me for who I was. So, when I had the chance to move out I DID….

To Be Continued in the next installment of The Ex-Files…