Chapter 23: Beth
I also met Beth through EHarmony, she had a four-year-old son, Mathew. I was fifty-three. Beth was thirty-one. We clicked. Beth had been married for seven years, she and her husband Dave were on a long walk, he collapsed and died from a heart attack. We certainly had something in common. She’s very attractive with red hair and blue eyes. After dating for several months, I purchased an engagement ring and proposed. She accepted and we decided to purchase a home. Tracy was an eye doctor and married. Tara was married with two children and attending nursing school. Travis was an honor student at Ohio State. My children were emotionally healthy, financially sound and in general, doing very well. So why not have a new beginning with Beth and her 7-year-old son? I cashed out the equity on my duplex for twenty thousand and used it as a down payment. Beth sold her home and put up another twenty. We became engaged and purchased property out in the country. Huge fenced in backyard, one acre, big screened back porch with three bedrooms. I now owned one half million dollars of real estate. Two years later, I filed bankruptcy and lost it all.
One Sunday her mom, dad, brother and sister-law came over, we had a cook-out on the back deck. The steak was delicious, and I proceed to get a big chunk caught in my throat. Being the first time I’d ever had this experience, I didn’t know what to do. I could not breathe. Beth saw me gagging, ran over and performed the Heimlich, she was behind me placed both fists on my chest pulled hard, and the meat flew out. She saved my life.
Christmas day arrived, and her parents are opening their presents. I had in my possession one of the greatest inventions ever designed by modern science.A fart machine.I used to take this wonderful device to work and place it behind the cellular accessories. I’d become quite adept at mastering the volume levels and knew just to make a little sound with the remote control. The looks on customers faces was fantastic. Beth’s dad had two hearing aids and was still virtually deaf. I’d paced my pride and joy under the couch. This time I knew it had to be loud. Blaaattttt. Beth’s mom said to her husband, “Phil, would you please not do that.” He had no idea what she was talking about, as he couldn’t hear. Blaaattttt. She hit him, so I stopped and showed them the device. Vicky thought it was funny, Phil had no clue what was going on.
I was a member of the Y.M.C.A., the facility was only two minutes from my duplex and now a twenty-minute drive. I was doing an hour of weights, half hour treadmill, hot tub, sauna, and pool. Normally five or six days a week. The exercise was important to me. Beth went once but didn't care for it. Looking back, our relationship ended due to me. I had become distant and was not interested in being intimate. After a year, we ended up in separate bedrooms. Not good. She went to a relative’s funeral in West Virginia and met her 2nd cousin Kevin. He had a lucrative plumbing business and offered a free remodel of our bathroom. Over a month’s time, he drove 3 hours on the weekends to Ohio. He’s a big man, 6ft.7in., and very skilled at his craft. Kevin offered to take Mathew and Beth deer hunting during the week of Thanksgiving. They were supposed to be home the day before Thanksgiving, however, we ended up meeting at her mother's on Thanksgiving Day. I had enjoyed a 20-year faithful marriage and would never dream of being unfaithful, I naturally assumed this of Beth. The thought occurred to me that something was not right, so I asked what’s going on with Kevin. She said she had kissed him, I asked if they had made love and she looked down. I was shocked and hurt, as this was an experience I’d never had. We put the Christmas tree up together, and I thought we were healing. I had suggested counseling, but gave up when she explained her and Mathew were spending Christmas with Kevin. They are now married and living in West Virginia.
However, there was a very important reason I met Beth.
I believe today, all that happens is for a good reason, although we may not see it at the time. She was working on her master’s degree in journalism and was an avid reader. She came home from the library with “The Disappearance of The Universe” by Gary Renard, she liked the title and could not put it down, finishing in three days. She said, "Bob, you must read this." I couldn't put it down, either. “Disappearance” led me to ”The Course In Miracles” by Helen Schucman. If I hadn’t met Beth, 17 manuscripts would not have been written. I have studied and written about these magnificent writings for 15 years. They have helped enormously in understanding the why of Mary Jo’s passing and continue to answer life questions, some of which I didn’t even know I had. Beth jokingly said, "Why don't you contact your old girlfriend, Ahnora?" I did, and she sent her actual photo. She is not unattractive, just a little overweight. The chemistry was just not there for a romantic relationship. However, her beautiful spirit arranged The Emmaus Walk.
Beth moved out in January, and I was forced into bankruptcy. I'd several bad tenants, and Beth backed out of our purchasing agreement. She owed me over seven thousand. I went to three different attorneys and because we weren't married, nothing could be done. Very hard to manage $3500 monthly payments on my income. I moved back to my duplex as I didn't need the big home. The bankruptcy courts in Columbus were swamped, and it took over a year for the paperwork to go through the system, so I had no mortgage payments. My tenants were paying $900 a month and right after filing I told them they didn’t have to pay rent anymore, they lived there another year for free. What on earth was I thinking? I threw away $10,800.I think I should have been on brain meds and seeing a psychologist.
I gave Chad a month’s notice that I was moving back in. He’d been working in the same cellular store I had, so I felt no need to do a background check. He’d ask every customer what they were doing with their old phone and ended up with several trades. If a customer wasn’t eligible for an upgrade, he’d meet them outside and sell one of his. After management found out, he was naturally fired. He was living with his girlfriend and their newborn. He couldn’t find employment, so I let them live there three months for free. When I opened up the garage door there were dozens of empty one gallon water containers. Walking inside, the stench was overwhelming. They’d lived three months with no water or electricity. With a baby? The toilet was completely full, the spoiled food in the refrigerator was covered with gnats, the basement was full of wet moldy clothes and my microwave was gone. After cleaning out the garage, the toilet and refrigerator, I went to bed. I woke up at 1:00 and couldn’t stand the odor emanating from the basement. An hour later, twenty-five garbage full of this mess were in the trash. I can understand people having no money, but not living in filth. He left the microwave on the front porch full of gnats also.
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