First and foremost, a huge and heartfelt THANK YOU to all of you that have taken time and energy to help and guide Casey! It has helped more than you know. I am the Mother of CaseyA. To say that he is special would be like saying "The Sun is hot!"
He is an exemplary guy that has lived his life with intention, purpose, and meaning, and above all, he always had a plan. He has worked extremely hard and has shown a level of discipline that I have never seen before and probably will never see again. He graduated high school, voted "smartest and most likely to succeed". He immediately went straight to a prestigious 4 year University where he double majored (one being psychology) his 4 year degree. And he actually did it in four years!! All along the way he carried a full load and worked delivering pizza so he could pay his own car payment and have pocket money. He then went on to law school and after his first or second year of law school, as if that wasn't hard enough, he added another goal of attaining a masters degree simultaneously at the nearby State University. He married the WW in 2012 and they had a DD in Nov 2015. He succeeded in all of the above. And he is only 28years old!!! He is accurate when he speaks of how happy the marriage was, the WW never breathed a word of her unfulfillment not even to her own Mother, her Best Friend, or to my Daughter, and Casey's Sister, who was their Maid of Honor. She is just trying to justify how she could do such a thing to Casey. The capacity of Casey's heart is a very sad story. Ever since high school, he was donating blood on a regular schedule just because it made him feel good. In 1999 Casey's brother who was 14 at the time was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I was consumed with being the primary caregiver through numerous surgeries, radiation therapy, etc. etc. In 2009, when Casey was 20, as he was going into his third year at the University, his 24 year old brother (My middle Son) died as a result of the 10 year battle. Casey knows tragedy, knows loss, and values everything very deeply.
His Father and I have the happiest marriage I have ever heard of and recently celebrated our 29th anniversary and are lucky to fall in love more every day and have crazy passion for each other still.
He sustained me through the most difficult time of my life and it just made us stronger.
I share all of this not to toot Casey's horn or to brag, as his Mom, I share it to give you, his new friends and confidants an insight as to how he operates and how he may struggle as this journey continues.
He invited me to this website and we have talked about some of the topics as things are unfolding. He has been very transparent with us as he has lived his life and he truly does not have any skeletons in his closet. I know not to disclose this website to the WW, my DIL.
Now for my story; I am a survivor of infidelity, YAY!!! I married my first love too, straight out of high school at age 18 in 1978. That lasted about 5 years until my First husband did this exact thing to me. I know the sick pain of how Casey felt when his wife was in another state, in the arms of another man and dismissing his pain. Oh, and in case I forgot to mention, it was Thanksgiving day! YEP! That will go down in the books as the second worst Thanksgiving with the first being the first Thanksgiving after my Son died
I was the victim of infidelity and I had a toddler (well actually an infant, my Son was only 10 months old when my WH had the affair). My Ex is still married to the woman that he cheated on me with, and we are amicable and have always been united in raising our Son who is now 36. I am in need of help and support of how to be the best parent I can be to Casey thru this. Because I have experienced it, this event is hitting me too close to home and I'm too obsessed with the drama of it; my DIL's new "boyfriend", her social media postings (yuck)
etc etc etc. I too want to see her "outed" in every way for what she has done, not only for my own satisfaction, but for moral reasons. I don't think she should be teaching elementary school children, nor should she be an advisor to young women of her Alumni Sorority that she has been (IMHO) too involved in instead of tending to her home, her daughter and her marriage (especially if any of what she is now stating is true and she was "falling out of love" or feeling unfulfilled). She is making the mistake of enormous proportions and I fear she will fall out of this fog, and yank Casey back and forth in the very near future, tearing up his heart even more. He has such a deep capacity to love, to forgive, and to understand the workings of the heart and mind that he might end up going down that R road with her and I'm trying to be open to that, to trust his judgment and accept her back if he asks me to. Part of me knows that Casey deserves #1, whatever makes him happy (and she has always done that), but #2 and most importantly he deserves to be treated much better than this. I think she has deep issues and needs IC and I recommended that to her when I went to see her. (Casey has touched on that in his responses) but what he might have left out is how being in Casey's shadow might be what has left her to feel bad about herself and how this new boyfriend has made her feel good and she is now addicted to that "medicine". As soon as reality sets in, I feel she will come running back to him. How he deals with that will remain to be seen and has to be his choice, not mine, right?!
Please share with me anything that helped or hindered your journey from the aspect of your parents.
Oh and by the way, the DD is my first and only Grandchild and I am devastated that her life has been impacted in the worst way, I am reeling in pain over this every day. It breaks my heart that her life will be "broken" the way my 36 year old Son's life has been and how my deceased Son's life also was
Thank you, thank you, thank you all for directing Casey to a path of recovering from this devastation, and helping him to become a survivor. He is doing good and "taking the bull by the horns". I have read The 180 too, not only so I can remind him if needed, but to implement it too. Its NC for me from now on too with my DIL , her family or her friends. Yesterday I texted my DIL's best friend (because she is also an Alumni Advisor to the Sorority) and told her that my DIL should not be an advisor to young women, that I am going to out her to the University and she should do the same. Casey instantly got a call about it and he called me and asked me not to do it (YET), to wait until he is protected legally, and then we can lay down the hammer if we want to. So I retracted it but I did it with the threat that if she doesn't walk away from the home and assets, and continue to take care of her half of the DD I will wreck her in every way possible. I hope no damage was done to Caseys plan. But this is why I have to retreat and get back to my own life and let Casey handle his. He knows his Dad and I will always be there for him. His Dad is an awesome role model and man. Oh, and to clarify, I went and met with my DIL last Sunday and she told me she knows that Casey built everything they have and she doesn't want to take it from him or their DD, so it is not he "muscling" her about not cleaning him out, its just a gentle reminder to stay the course.
Thanks for taking the time to read, and support our family. I'll close for now, With a heavy heart, but getting a little lighter every day,
(Casey's Mom)
[This message edited by ConcernedParent at 8:28 AM, December 3rd (Sunday)]