New Beginnings

Long-time readers may recall that a few months ago Southern Man broke off a promising dating relationship (one that he now freely admits he began far too soon after the divorce) in order to seek counseling with his ex. A lot has happened in the last two months, and since this is something of a divorce blog the story may as well be told here.

The counselor we selected was Dr. Jim Talley, a well-known author who specializes in reconcilliation counseling. He's pretty good and Southern Man learned a lot from his books, CDs, and counseling sessions (both individually and jointly with his ex). Alas, she elected to cease counseling during our fifth session. And unfortunately all that was said and done left Southern Man with the realization that there is little hope for any kind of reconcilliation with her. He's going to make a continual effort to have a healthy relationship with her and even be a friend to her in any way that he can, but there's not much chance for even that. But he'll never stop trying, and that's a promise.

A couple of relatively life-changing events have occurred during the same time.

One of these is that a few weeks ago Southern Man's teenage son was...well, how to say this...required by his mother to move out and live with his dad for a while. He was pretty traumatized at first but has now come around to the pont that he actually wants to live in the luxurious accomodations that comprise Casa Southern Man. So agreements were made and papers were signed and as of today Southern Man has physical custody of a teenage boy for six months.

Said teenage boy does not come without certain...issues. Well, they all do, don't they? Southern Man has got some ground to make up with all of his kids, but this one more than the others so he's looking forward to both the challenge and the opportunity to be a "real" dad again. He's got some ground to make up with all of his kids, but in some ways this one hurts the most and needs the most. At any rate it'll be an interesting six months. And now that the counseling and custody dust has settled a bit Southern Man can get back to more regular updates of this here blog as well.