Dear Shookie:

“He sat me down and told me to get an education and always depend on myself because a man will marry me and leave me barefoot & pregnant“-

– it just occurred to me that the man we are talking about has done the exact opposite of what your father said a man would do: “He gave her the home & alimony and he still pays her bills and buys her what she asks for…  taking her & the grown children to Florida for a week“, etc.

If I remove a few words from your sentence,  which I quoted above, it would read: “He sat me down and told me to always depend on myself because a man will leave me barefoot”-

-and it seems like this is what your father did to you when you were 17, leaving you almost barefoot: living in “an empty apartment… No Television or anything except my clothes“.

In regard to the man we’re discussing: “his children are self-centered and are enabled by him“- you were the opposite of being enabled by your father.

What do think/ feel about this..?

anita