Burned, but I'll live

 My parents divorced when I was very young. Throughout most of the early years of my childhood, they used my sister and me as weapons against each other. I'm 63 years of age today, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I know that stuff did a lot of mental damage. I've tried counseling. You sit and talk for an hour each week with a therapist who, at the end of the hour, says See you next week. Week after week of you just sitting there talking to the atmosphere, because at this point you know the therapist still hasn't interacted with you other than to say see you next week, you come to the realization that the past is past. Move on with your life and avoid those things that might trigger negativity or an emotional response. You, at this point, know what hurts. Get burned once, and you don't dare touch hot stuff anymore. 

But I was a kid. I loved my mom. I loved my dad. They, in turn, hated each other and hated that I loved both of them. How dare I?!. When I would visit one of them, they would question me on what was going on at Mom's or Dad's house. Then, when I would return to the custodial parent, I would again get questioned on what I might have said or not said, about 'their business,' not my life, mind you, but their business. And of course, if I ever went so far as to tell them something, I would get punished for saying anything. Those punishments always included a beating of some sort, usually with a belt, a flyswatter, my Hot Wheel tracks, whatever. Definitely not something that brings back fond memories of growing up. I learned real fast how to lie. Mostly as a defensive maneuver. But, get caught in that lie, and then the punishment would be worse.

Today, I'm told that I am honest to a fault. That's a good thing in my opinion. I don't have to fear corporal retribution any longer so, honesty as they say is the best policy. I consider myself to be a good person overall. I hate confrontation, and if you've been following along dear reader, you can obviously get why. 

Lie to me today, and I'm definitely not going to forgive or forget. I think I've earned that entitlement at this point. Sure, my childhood isn't your fault and I'm not putting that on you, but I guess because of the pain dishonesty has caused me, I'm not a fan of the practice. 

This morning I found out that someone whom I thought I could trust lied to me. We don't have the best relationship or any relationship for that matter, but this was a person whom I been obligated to believe wouldn't resort to that. But he did. Remember what I said about getting burned. Yeah, bye to him. I'll regret the 'favors' I did for him for a minute.