It All Ends

at the end of a day

For those of you that follow me on Twitter, you may be aware of what has been going on in my life recently. For those of you that don’t, I’ll give you a brief recap.

Starting in September, my girlfriend decided to go on a trip and see Europe for 3 months. During that time, my Mother became ill and eventually she died. Her date of death was September 17th.

There was some things going on in my relationship with my girlfriend at the time. I’m not going to go into the details for several reasons. The biggest reasons though are:

  1. It’s none of your business. I don’t mean to sound mean, but it’s really none of your business. I briefly touched on it on Twitter as well as on at least one of my Periscope podcasts. If you’re dying to know, you will probably find what you are looking for there.
  2. I’m not going to shit talk my girlfriend. We both could have done things differently. We both made mistakes and fucked up. We both are accountable. We both need to own our shit in that regard. She’s a good person. I have nothing against her for her part in things. I wish her well.

Needless to say, the girlfriend and I are no longer a couple. She moved out on this last Saturday, the 8th of December.

On Wednesday, the 5th of December, my car was stolen from my driveway. Don’t worry, it’s been recovered. The police found it on December 10th. It’s actually in pretty good shape too. I need to get it re-keyed and deal with the insurance company at this point to get some of the losses taken care of.

So that, in a nutshell, is what I’ve been dealing with for basically the last three months.

Some days I’m good, really good even. Some days, not so much. Waves of sadness wash over me at different points, at different times, on different days. Right now as I’m typing this a wave is washing over me.

I miss my now ex-girlfriend. I miss what we had. I miss what we shared. I miss the fact that our future together isn’t going to be what I had hoped for. I miss the potential future that never was.

I’ve accepted that we aren’t going to be together. I knew that this was not only a real possibility, but a probability.

I’m thankful that I met her when I did, and I’m thankful for the years that we had together. In all honesty, when I first met her, I didn’t think we had any real chance of going any distance other than maybe a couple of months at best. But almost 4 years later, there we were.

It is what it is. It’s done. If I had to do it all over again, knowing that it would still end the way it ended, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Why?

Because all relationships end.

You may go a few days, a few weeks, a few months, a few years, or even decades. You may be with someone for most of your life, even the rest of your life. Eventually it all comes to an end though.

In that sense, you could say that life is tragic. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl either to someone else, or she dies. Same for the women out there who happen to read this.

It’s an eventuality.

You can go your whole life avoiding this truth, all things end. Or you can accept it and embrace it. You can seize it and suck the marrow out of it. The choice is yours.

I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

When the waves wash over me, I tend to go to dark places.

Suicidal thoughts are no strangers to me.

Don’t worry though, I’m not going to do anything like that. I’m not going to do something stupid. I’m not going to bring a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Life is too short as it is.

For a lot of years, I’ve had my life on easy mode. I’ve taken the easy way out of things and avoided pain as much as possible. And when the pain of things seemed to almost be too much to bear, I would go to those dark places. It would be so easy to do it. It would be a way to make the pain stop. It’s not the right answer or the right way for me though. I realize that now.

I’m choosing to embrace this pain, as much as it hurts. I’m choosing not to avoid it this time. I’m living with it. I’m living in it too. It will pass with time. I’m choosing to do something with it.

When I’ve experienced pain similar to this in the past, not only would I go to dark places, but I would isolate myself from others. I can’t do that this time. That would probably be too much. It would also drag that pain out longer. I can’t do it. I can’t. I won’t.

So I did something that I don’t usually do.

I reached out.

I reached out to the Men on my Twitter feed. I reached out to anyone and everyone that has been watching my Periscopes.

I’m absolutely floored by the outreach that I’ve received. Men have showed up for me. Men have reached out to let me know that I’m not alone in all of this. Men have reached out in their own ways to let me know that they care about what is going on with me and that in one way or another, I matter to them.

I’m so grateful for them. I’m so indebted to them for this. I only hope that one day, in some way, I can pay them back for their kindness and their concern.

From talking to them on Twitter, from speaking with them on Periscope, from getting phone numbers and follow up texts, I am truly amazed and humbled. From e-mails like this one that I received today:

Hey Rob

You don’t know me. We’ll likely never meet. But in this new age of computers, reddit, youtube and blogs;  I stumbled across you quite a while back on a youtube video with Rollo Tomassi. I’m a little surprised to be writing this to be honest. But after reading pretty well all of your blogs and watching most of your videos I figured I’d drop you line. For what it worth coming from a complete stranger I just wanted to say I appreciate the time you put into your posts. Despite the bitter taste (at least for myself) of the redpill your articles are well thought out and written, I look forward to reading them. I’m sorry to hear about the passing of your mom, and the recent breakup with your girlfriend. In this day and age the prospects of keeping a relationship in the somewhat idealized state of kindness and respect is difficult, at least from my experiences.

Hope this message finds you well.

“Illegitimi Non Carborundum”

I’m speechless and I’m blown away.

Thank you.

Thank you Mike.

Thank you Vincent.

Thank you Chuck.

Thank you Quintus.

Thank you to all of the men, both the ones in name, and the ones that choose anonymity.

Thank you to all of you reading this. Thank you to those that I forgot to mention or that I don’t know your names. You are not forgotten. Your words to me are not forgotten. Your messages to me have not fallen on deaf ears. I hear you. I see you.

Thank you to all of you who reached out to me in my time of need and threw me a life line. I’m forever grateful and indebted to you. I have your back because you’ve had mine.

I’m not going anywhere Gentlemen. I have work to do. I’ve got things to say. I’ve got blogs to write. I’ve got videos to shoot. And I’ve got Men that I need to meet in real life.

2019 is going to be that year for all of it.

 

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What Now?

flight sky people high

As I write this, it’s Thursday, the day before the viewing for my Mother, which will be Friday. Ah Friday. Lately seems like all of the interesting shit falls on a Friday. Then there will be Saturday. The day that we bury her.

I’m still sort of in shock. I’m still numb. Maybe tomorrow reality will hit me full force in the face. Maybe not. Maybe that will be Saturday. Then again, maybe not. Maybe it will be weeks or months, maybe even years before this really hits me. I don’t really know.

My closest Brother, Ryan, called me today. He lives in Illinois at the moment. He’s been there for quite a few years now. God I miss him. I really wish he was here. He can’t be though. He’s got his own life and his own shit to deal with.

But we talked. Talked for about an hour and a half. It was really good to talk with him. I got to tell him the things that are going on in my life at the moment and he got to tell me the things that are going on in his life. He’s got some really, and I mean REALLY awesome things that are happening to him. I’m so happy for him. I really and truly hope that they work out and come true.

We talked about my Mom. We talked about how we went to car shows with her and my Dad. He mentioned that she was like a Mother to him as well. He’s hurting too. I know it.

My Mom was a “neat lady.” She was. She was neat. She did the best she could and like all of us really, she had to figure things out as she went. She had to wing it. I’ll always love her for that. She meant well.

I’m relieved that she is no longer in pain. I’m glad that she isn’t suffering anymore. I’m grateful for that. I’m grateful that I got to know her the best that I could.

That being said, my Mom was no saint. She wasn’t perfect. In fact, she was rather heavy handed with me as I was growing up. Even right up to the end, that was how she was. Always giving me unsolicited advice. Telling me what I “should” do. What I “ought” to do. What I “needed” to do. Some of that unsolicited advice was priceless. Most of it was worthless.

I guess in her eyes, I never grew up. I was never the Man before her. I was always her son and the little boy who didn’t have it figured out and would never figure it out. Even at my age of 46. Part of me resents her for that.

I know that I’ll miss her terribly. But part of me is relieved that she is gone. For the first time in my life, I feel truly out from under her. I’m sure I mentioned this in a previous post, but I’m saying it again.

I get to be me now. I don’t have to wear a mask around the family anymore. I don’t have to wear a mask around her anymore. I can be who I am, warts and all. I don’t have to face her judgment anymore. I don’t have to hear her “should’s,” “ought to’s,” and “need’s” anymore. I can be me full time around my Dad now. He can be who he really is around me full time now.

I love my Mom and always will, if it wasn’t for her and my Father both, I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t exist.

I still resent her though, to some degree. And like I said, I’m relieved that she is gone. I don’t have to put up with her shit anymore.

I mentioned to my Dad the other day why I didn’t come around much ever since I left the nest and got out on my own. I didn’t have to finish what I had started, he finished it for me.

“You didn’t come around much because you didn’t want to hear your Mother’s shit.”

He’s right. Nailed it in one. I’ve always considered my Father perceptive, but I didn’t realize until then, just how perceptive he really is.

I needed to tell him why I didn’t come around so that he didn’t think it was about him. Turns out he knew all along. He was right.

The girlfriend tolerated my Mother and the sparse visits we made to visit her and my Dad. I knew she didn’t really want to be around my Mom. She said to me one night after we had left their house, “You change when you’re around them.”

“What? How do you mean?”

“I don’t know, you become more quiet, more withdrawn, sullen.”

“I do?”

“Yeah you do.”

I never realized I did that until that conversation. But I did. Did it for years. Honestly, I did that my whole life. I tried to show my Mom who I really was when I was much younger and she didn’t want to see it. Couldn’t see it. Wouldn’t see it. Like many things in her world, her life, she only saw what she wanted to see. We all do that to one degree or another. I know I do.

The girlfriend spoke to me the other day, she hopes that my Dad will wait until she gets back from her trip before he starts to remove Mom’s stuff from the house. She wants to help him do it. She wants to hopefully get a better picture of who my Mom as a Mother and a woman was, and she also wants to get to know my Dad better. She actually wants to spend more time around my Father. She likes him. She wants to see what he’s like now that he’s not the caregiver. She wants to see him outside the influence of my Mom. I do too.

My Father and I get to start new chapters now. Chapters without the influence of my Mother. It’ll be good I think.

No, it will be great.

Life is absurd and so is death. But here we are.

There are no rules really, only consequences. Do what you want. Think what you want. Be who you want. Accept the consequences of those choices. Realize for the most part, none of those choices or consequences will kill you.

Set yourself free.

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When Cancer Strikes Close To Home Part 2

purple crocus in bloom during daytime

So the 4 to 6 week time line didn’t go as expected. Turns out my Mother had only a few hours left in her life to live.

She died on September 17th at 5:00 pm MST.

She died about 8 hours after I posted my last post.

I’m writing this mostly on Tuesday, the day after. I’m numb and sort of in shock. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all. Even though I knew it was coming, I still thought I had more time. It seems unreal. At least I got to see her one last time before she died and I got to tell her that I loved her and that I would be okay after she was gone. Both my Father and me will be okay.

On Tuesday the 18th, I went with my close extended family and my Father to the mortuary to discuss what’s the next step.

My Father decided to bury her instead of cremate her because he needs and wants a final resting place for her. Somewhere he can go and talk to her. I support his decision for him. I’m good with that.

I never realized what a racket the death industry is until Tuesday. Coffins ain’t cheap. A burial plot ain’t cheap. The vault that the coffin goes in ain’t cheap. The headstone ain’t cheap. I’m not entirely sure at the moment, but I believe my Dad is into it about close to $10,000. Apparently that is cheap considering other people have paid more for this “service.”

After we got done at the mortuary, we went for lunch and talked about everything and nothing. We talked about the shit my Mom has said and done over the years. We talked about people we knew well, we talked about people that were acquaintances at best.

All I wanted to do was drink myself into oblivion. I had a few and got a good, and I mean a real good buzz going on and then went home and began to type this up.

It’s the only way right now that I can cope with the thoughts in my head and the silence that is surrounding me.

The girlfriend is in Europe for 3 months. I won’t see her until December. She knows what is going on because we talk for a bit every day. She’s offered to come home early, but I told her to enjoy her trip, there’s nothing that she can do. It won’t bring my Mom back. I miss both of them so dearly. It hurts just thinking about it.

Death is absurd. So is life when you think about it.

On one hand, I miss my Mom so much, and I know that that particular pain hasn’t even really sunk in yet. The viewing will be on Friday the 21st from 6 to 8 pm. The funeral itself will be on Saturday the 22nd and it starts at 10:30 am. I think. Maybe closer to 11. I don’t remember right at this moment.

So on one hand I miss my Mom, and on the other, I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I’m truly free of her. I can truly do what I want and be who I want without her gaze and her judgment. My life feels truly like it is my own. Maybe that makes me a terrible, selfish person, maybe not. Either way, it’s my choice now.

My girlfriend’s family has offered to come up to support me during the funeral, to be there in my girlfriend’s stead. I told them that that wouldn’t be necessary, I’ll be alright.

Maybe they’ll come up, maybe they won’t. Either way, I’m good with it. It’ll be great if they do, it’ll be fine if they don’t. I have no expectations either way.

My Father is 67 years old as I write this. He is a good man. He’s pretty good at being a man too. Some of my earliest “red pilling” came at his hands many years ago.

This will be the first chapter in his life where he is truly calling his own shots and doing whatever he wants to do. He won’t have to feel guilt for not going to the hospital to sit with my Mom. He won’t have to be a caregiver anymore. He can now do whatever he wants to do. I’m happy for him and I’m excited for him as well. He has plans. As he says, and I quote, “I’ve got shit to do.” I look forward to whatever it is that he’s going to do from here on out.

Death and life are absurd. We create all of these expectations and have ideas of what life is truly about and what we think it should be.

The truth is, life just is what it is. You keep on keeping on. It’s punctuated with highs and lows, and in the middle is where you keep on keeping on.

You get to decide what you want to do with your life. Nothing and nobody can truly hold you back except yourself. Not your Mother. Not your Father. Not even society to a large degree. Just you. Your thoughts, your hopes, your expectations. That’s all that is truly holding you back, and that’s all it’s ever been really.

That all being said, the grass isn’t necessarily greener on the other side. There are consequences for the choices that you make. You may do things that make your life more incredible than you could have ever possibly imagined. You could fuck things up so bad that there’s no coming back from it too. Remember that. You can choose to do whatever you want, but can’t always escape the consequences of your choices.

Keep on keeping on. Life is what it is. The grass isn’t necessarily greener on the other side. You can have anything you want, but you’ll also have to accept the consequences of having whatever it is that you got.

There are no do overs in life. There’s just life. Consider the consequences of the choices you are making or are about to make and then choose accordingly.

Even writing about life and death is absurd. It’s all absurd to one degree or another. In the end there are no rules.

I’ve run out of things to say for now. Now I’m choosing to stop writing and I’m going to drink myself into a stupor. Maybe not my best choice, but it’s what I choose for the moment. I accept the consequences of my choice. Judge me if you want. I don’t care. Your judgment and my own judgment really mean nothing in the long run, and they are both absurd as well.

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