Last night, an unexpected visitor stopped by our home.
It was my daughter's disgraced godfather.
After an explosive fallout with him over his prostitute girlfriend stealing cosmetics and brushes from me and his lie to us about where he met this woman, my husband and I cut off all contact with our daughter's godfather and told him to stay away. He did stay away, but my grudge against him has not lifted one bit.
I did not actually see the disgraced man. I didn't even know he came. This was fortunate since if I had, the scene could have become quite ugly. It was my husband who saw and interacted with him. It was only after he left that my husband came into the bedroom where I was and dumped an armload of Christmas presents on the bed before proceeding with his narrative.
After waking up from his nap, my husband had gone outside with his cup of coffee to round up the cats for their evening feed. While he was out there, he saw our daughter's godfather pull up in his car, bearing presents for us. My husband was surprised to see him, but having known our daughter's godfather for over 20 years, he knew this visit was not one of sinister motives.
Sure enough, the prostitute girlfriend landed my daughter's godfather in a world of shit. She was a perpetual kleptomaniac, stealing not just from me, but his other friends and ultimately from him too. According to what he told my husband, the girlfriend stole some jewelry from his mom, which led to his family kicking him out of their home and coming to within a hair's breadth of disowning him. It didn't help that she smoked heroin, and most likely stole to support her addiction in addition to turning tricks. After they moved into an apartment that he was now calling home, the girlfriend and her stepfather who taught her to steal were arrested for trying to walk out of Walmart with TWO FULL SHOPPING CARTS of stuff! It was a VERY amateur level attempted robbery since the security cameras caught it ALL in full view. While out on bail, she then proceeded to steal our daughter's godfather's car. It was at that point that he called the police and had her arrested again. She is currently sitting in jail, awaiting trial for theft and facing five years in prison for her crimes.
My husband simply stood there at the fence and let his former friend spill his troubles. The presents he brought were his peace offering, a means of atonement for his crimes against us. My husband accepted the gifts, seeing that it was not a bribe as I thought it was, and told his disgraced friend to leave. Our daughter's godfather reported that he had been continuing to go to church, but was going to the early morning Masses at our other church, since we don't get up that early and were unlikely to cross paths at that time. He asked when Confessions were being held, since he wanted to go before Christmas Mass. My husband told him when and where to go, but neither of us have much hope that he'll follow through. With the exception of Easter, he's never followed through on his Confession commitments.
When my husband returned to the bedroom with the presents and the report, my initial confusion over the gifts was replaced with a resounding feeling of victory. I predicted it would come to this, and I was vindicated in the most dramatic way possible. Following the advice of my favorite Carmelite priest, I tried not to engage in schadenfreude. But on the other hand, "I told you so!" has never been a more appropriate phrase to use in this context.
I still haven't forgiven my daughter's godfather for bringing his kleptomaniac girlfriend over and robbing me. I don't know that I ever will. Forgiveness can be a very difficult thing. It's natural to stew in one's own anger and indignation for a while before God's Grace makes forgiveness possible. I suppose this will have to be the route I take.
I will enjoy the presents in the meantime. I accept the peace offering too.
It was my daughter's disgraced godfather.
After an explosive fallout with him over his prostitute girlfriend stealing cosmetics and brushes from me and his lie to us about where he met this woman, my husband and I cut off all contact with our daughter's godfather and told him to stay away. He did stay away, but my grudge against him has not lifted one bit.
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| Scene from her baptism. He's the one on the right, standing next to my husband |
I did not actually see the disgraced man. I didn't even know he came. This was fortunate since if I had, the scene could have become quite ugly. It was my husband who saw and interacted with him. It was only after he left that my husband came into the bedroom where I was and dumped an armload of Christmas presents on the bed before proceeding with his narrative.
After waking up from his nap, my husband had gone outside with his cup of coffee to round up the cats for their evening feed. While he was out there, he saw our daughter's godfather pull up in his car, bearing presents for us. My husband was surprised to see him, but having known our daughter's godfather for over 20 years, he knew this visit was not one of sinister motives.
Sure enough, the prostitute girlfriend landed my daughter's godfather in a world of shit. She was a perpetual kleptomaniac, stealing not just from me, but his other friends and ultimately from him too. According to what he told my husband, the girlfriend stole some jewelry from his mom, which led to his family kicking him out of their home and coming to within a hair's breadth of disowning him. It didn't help that she smoked heroin, and most likely stole to support her addiction in addition to turning tricks. After they moved into an apartment that he was now calling home, the girlfriend and her stepfather who taught her to steal were arrested for trying to walk out of Walmart with TWO FULL SHOPPING CARTS of stuff! It was a VERY amateur level attempted robbery since the security cameras caught it ALL in full view. While out on bail, she then proceeded to steal our daughter's godfather's car. It was at that point that he called the police and had her arrested again. She is currently sitting in jail, awaiting trial for theft and facing five years in prison for her crimes.
My husband simply stood there at the fence and let his former friend spill his troubles. The presents he brought were his peace offering, a means of atonement for his crimes against us. My husband accepted the gifts, seeing that it was not a bribe as I thought it was, and told his disgraced friend to leave. Our daughter's godfather reported that he had been continuing to go to church, but was going to the early morning Masses at our other church, since we don't get up that early and were unlikely to cross paths at that time. He asked when Confessions were being held, since he wanted to go before Christmas Mass. My husband told him when and where to go, but neither of us have much hope that he'll follow through. With the exception of Easter, he's never followed through on his Confession commitments.
When my husband returned to the bedroom with the presents and the report, my initial confusion over the gifts was replaced with a resounding feeling of victory. I predicted it would come to this, and I was vindicated in the most dramatic way possible. Following the advice of my favorite Carmelite priest, I tried not to engage in schadenfreude. But on the other hand, "I told you so!" has never been a more appropriate phrase to use in this context.
I still haven't forgiven my daughter's godfather for bringing his kleptomaniac girlfriend over and robbing me. I don't know that I ever will. Forgiveness can be a very difficult thing. It's natural to stew in one's own anger and indignation for a while before God's Grace makes forgiveness possible. I suppose this will have to be the route I take.
I will enjoy the presents in the meantime. I accept the peace offering too.
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