I am so proud of my husband. We have been married for 13 years. We dated for seven years prior to marriage (having met at 15 with courtship beginning at 16). I love this man.

We have been through good and bad, but I can honestly say he makes me a better person. I want to be better when I'm with him.

Today he faced off with his mother (a.k.a. Satan). This woman loved me -- until I pledged my vows with her son. From that day on she was jealous that I took her son away. I don't think it occurred to her prior to our wedding that one day he would value his relationship with me more than his relationship with her.

During the early years of marriage she played her manipulative games. She attempted to put a wedge between us and tried to wield her unholy powers over me. Little did I know the family dynamics in the tangled web that she wove. She was the ever controlling victim that nobody appreciated.

Satan played lots of games. She'd attack when my husband left the room. She play games to make it seem like she was the victim and I was the attacker. She would always find fault and would let me know how I didn't measure up to her expectations. She hurt me, challenged me, and drove me nuts.

Things are better now. She has had numerous brushes with death over the last 5 years since her gastric bypass surgery. To make a very long story very short, she suffered like I would want no human to suffer. Every complication of this surgery was lived out before my eyes. This poor woman could not catch a break besides the break of surviving. I have been with her every step of the way. I have bathed her. I have fed her. I have wiped her bottom. I have learned to love her through her suffering and to see the vulnerable shell beneath the harsh exterior.

I do not choose her as a friend, but I respect her struggles and pray for her good health -- despite the fact I fight the anger the she has survived instead of my mother. Mom took take of herself and was an AWESOME person. Satan ate her way to poor health and is the most non-compliant patient you have ever met.

She had corrective surgery on her gastric bypass this past February and is enjoying better health these last months than she has had in at least 5-10 years. She is walking again -- without a walker. She just has a cane now. She is well enough to watch my kids, but not with it enough for me to trust her (see following post). I'm okay as long as she doesn't leave the house with them.

I share all of this because it makes my wonderful husband's accomplishment today all the sweeter. He faced off with her over yesterday's fiasco. He confronted her calmly and reasonably. He addressed the concern, and she tried to blow it off. He re-addressed the concern and woke her up by stating that she was lucky that nobody called child protective services on her. She blinked. He won the battle.

I can not describe how proud I am of him and how far he (and WE) have come! It has taken YEARS and YEARS for our marriage to come to the point where my husband stands up for me against her. He didn't realize how she stabbed at me at first. He didn't realize how he undermined me either. We have worked hard to come to the point we are at today. We are TALKING about it together. We are brainstorming together. We are setting up a plan TOGETHER! Hearing comments on how good it is that HE have that chat with her made ME really happy. I am proud of him. I am proud of me.

We have come so far! It isn't easy for him to tackle her in these battles, but it is getting easier. It is no longer the all consuming drama it used to be. I try to give him ammunition for battle (in the case the comment about child protective services) and he uses what he wants and sometimes even enhances it (like today he reminded her that everyone has a cell phone and said "how would you have felt if someone called the police about kids and dogs left along in a running car with the keys in the ignition?"). He told her how a woman came into a copy shop he was at last week to confront the owner of the vehicle with a dog left in the parking lot (it was 100 degrees, the dog owner naively said "I cracked the window.....").

I am proud of my knight in shining armor. I am proud of him on several fronts. His confronting his mom makes me proud. His attitude toward his business struggles and dissolving the company make me proud. He is doing what he can to minimize the damage while protecting his dad financially (his dad's name is on everything). He is watching out for his parents but is coming around to see how he needs to be careful not to sacrifice our financial future. His dad tried to build a business and a legacy to leave his son. We had lots of "this will all be yours someday" talks. The missed paychecks and broken promises don't stick in my husband's mind. He is left with broken promises and a financial mess. He is making the best of it and is facing big decisions right now.

I'm proud of my husband. These are not easy times. He is bearing the brunt. He has started back to school and has taken his first class this summer. I have 3 classes this fall and then 3 to go until student teaching. This while still trying to hang onto the full time jobs (though his isn't very full time right now).

This fall he will coach both our kids soccer teams. The up side of the slow times is more family time. I'm grateful for this blessing. As my Mom always said, "This too shall pass." May the family time continue and the financial strife end. I bought a mega millions lottery ticket tonight............

:-) Hey look! My blackeyed susans finally bloomed!