A little something about nothing

Puzzle Piece

On Saturday we had our last small gathering at the house. This weekend was the Woodward Cruise...an event that now has its own website and has people from other states driving to attend. It just so happens it is less than a mile from our house so we have an annual tradition of having a drink at the house then walking up to join the millions of people for the day.

Things didn't work out exactly as planned as it was a bit rainy early in the day and then people ended up getting there a little later than expected. It still worked out and was a fun day.

It ended up being Mark, me, Shannon, Lisa, Bradd, Terrell and Tre showed up later. Other's were invited and for one reason or another did not make it. Thankfully none of us were driving as we all had too much to drink, but not in a stumbling or violent manor...thankfully!!

When we got back to the house we cooked some hot dogs and snacked for a bit. Terrell left to pick his girlfriend up from the airport...he had not been drinking so it was okay. At one point Tre left, but I missed that...maybe I was in the bathroom!? Bradd went to crash on the couch so it left just Mark, Shannon, Lisa and I.

Not sure how, but the conversation turned serious and emotional. Shannon lost her father two years ago and is still hurting from it. Not to say the pain ever goes away, but I think she's kept a lot inside because let me tell you, the words and tears were flowing at a heavy rate! Then somehow during the conversation of losing her father, Mark losing his mother, Shannon's brother being on sterioids and Lisa's brother being on crack...I listened a lot at thsi point...Mark said the most shocking thing. When he was 4 or 5 not only his father but one of his brother's molested him...multiple times. It broke my heart hearing that and watching the tears flow from his eyes. He never told ANYONE about it...not even his mom or sister. Mark's father left when he was young, around 7 I believe, and this brother is the one that has been in and out of jail, which Mark doesn't really have contact with, which I now understand why.

To make matters worse, Mark at one point tried to reconnect with his father...he wanted to learn about his other part of his family. His family, two other brothers, mom, sister and grandma did an intervention with him telling him to stay away from his dad because he had molested his brother...the brother that molested Mark. Mark kept his mouth shut, but still tried to talk to his dad. That is until one conversation he had with his dad on the phone where he was a little quiet and Mark asked what was wrong. His dad's reply was, "I'm sober and I can't talk to you unless I'm drunk...I don't know what to say to you." Nice, eh?

This is something that I would not wish on anyone, but knowing it happened does explain a lot of Mark's actions. I just feel so bad that he's had to keep that bottled up for so long. I kept hugging him and reinforcing the fact it was not his fault. I'm not sure he understood that or not, but I hope now that the alcohol is gone, he will realize it.