My Life Is Based On A True Story Part Three: Homelessness
Our pasts are often not pretty things to look at. To turnaround in our hands as it were a prism and peer into, remembering all the nuances of light, recalling every ugly detail, can be quite painful. This morning, writing this, I feel exposed. Illuminating history can also be cathartic, and with that, I move forward.
After being in California for a few days, it was clear that Jared was mentally Ill. He begged me for my wedding ring, so he could pawn it for shelter and food. I found out shortly after I gave in, that he instead used the money to get a tattoo of my name written across his chest, from shoulder to shoulder. He called and asked for more money, because it wasn't finished, and he needed $800 to fill in the outline. I was so angry! Of course he didn't get any more money out of my dad after this because we didn't really know how he'd use it.
Being on the streets did not fare well for him. He lost weight, and limped around on this bum ankle. Albeit, he did obtain a bus pass for part of the time. He slept in all sorts of different places: park benches, front stoops, towel bins, the back of a covered Jeep, in the back of a uhaul truck. Never in a homeless shelter though. A person had to get there at a certain time and follow the rules, but he was always on the move.
Eating was no picnic either. He harassed gas station attendants for food, stole from grocery stores, dumpster dove, snuck into continental breakfast at hotels a few times. Toward the end he found a place in Laguna Beach where a local church would feed people every day on the beach.
He started shaving in restrooms from head to toe. This gave him a very scary appearance, and he was stopped and searched by the police all the time. He was never carrying anything illegal though and was always sent away. He was just mentally Ill...He was often threatened to get out of town though. Once he was in Anaheim, and the cops threatened to find something to arrest him on if he didn't leave. This was after he was going from room to room in a hotel trying to collect everyone's Gideon Bibles.
Meanwhile I was trying to move on with my life. During the 6 weeks I was out there, I found it extremely difficult though. My mom and dad were pressuring me to get an abortion and I thought of this as a great opportunity. He offered to buy me a plane ticket so I could be with my mom for the procedure. She would pick me up at the Mosinee airport in Wisconsin, and we would go from there. Little did they know I had different plans. At the layover in Chicago, I called my father in law and told him to pick me up instead. There was no way I was going to get an abortion!! I just knew if I was back in Wisconsin, Jared would soon follow, and we could get him the help he needed. It turned out life isn't always that simple though.
Thanks for reading!
Love, snowpea ❤
If you need to catch up, here are the other two sections of my story:
https://steemit.com/life/@snowpea/my-life-is-based-on-a-true-story-part-one-newlyweds
https://steemit.com/life/@snowpea/my-life-is-based-on-a-true-story-part-two-not-the-fender
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This story is full of suspense, drama and love. The words left in this post have caught me for real (I looked up part two and read it all). Looking forward to part four.
#thealliance has a great writer in here, isn't it?
Thank you so much for your support and kind words @felobtc!! :D
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This is an incredibly well written piece. The story, the perspective you tell it through and the way you frame it are engrossing. Your prose is also amazing.
Thank you!! :)
Wow! This story is so intense that I had to read the first two parts. I'm just sad that it is based off of your real life experiences.
Thanks for reading!! Ultimately this is a story about forgiveness and redemption. I just haven't gotten to that part yet! :)
Thank you @snowpea for opening up and telling this Story. Mental illness can be a cruel thing. Yet many people do not understand it in many respects. They think it is "weak person" who is just sad.
No, it's a Brain under attack and just like any disease it can really debilitate a person.
So true, mental illness has many factors, and his brain was under attack as you say. In fact, he wasn't even sad. We learned later that he was going through mania. Thank you for your comment! :)
What a story, but I'm confused -
Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide
No escape from reality
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see
I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy
Because I'm easy come, easy go
A little high, little low
Anyway the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me, to me.........😉
#thealliance
Haha, I love that song. :D Everything in this story really happened about 11 years ago, when I was pregnant with my first born son. The only difference is I noticed (from the first entry) that the scars from when Jared was slashed are on his bicep not his forearm.
Wow, what a story. I feel it, The scenes of this story just on my eyes. Love your writing. Happy steeming.
What a sad story and I'm sorry you had to live through it.
Mental sickness is terrible and so hard on everyone around.
Dear @snowpea, you story kept me spellbound and I went back and read the first two parts. Sorry you had to experience such emotional and physical pain. I was thinking while reading the story ’what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’
Release the Kraken! You got a 26.00% upvote from @seakraken courtesy of @snowpea!