From Midsummer’s night dream to Nightmare!!

So, I just finally logged into my blog to see how much time has slipped by since the last entry and I realize it is coming up on a year. I am amazed to mark the time and wonder how I have survived. The kids are playing out back and laughing and happy. I am trying to convey all that has happened to our family since the last entry in July of 2009, as the true nightmare began not long after that and it is just now that I feel like I can breathe. So, in my usual format I will take you through our journey and bring you up to date in snippet form.
August 2009- As I had written previously, our house in Massachusetts got black mold as a result of the negligent installation of central air conditioning. This caused us to be homeless; me to file bankruptcy and ultimately after a period in August 2009 right after my last post we all became very ill again. We left the house and headed to my parents as I needed help as we all had contracted pneumonia and Ben was reacting to the toxins caused by the mold. While at my parents, I had to rush Ben to the ER in the middle of the night. While he was being treated I was consulting with the Pediatric Toxicology unit at Children’s Hospital in Boston. The doctor I was working with made a statement that confirmed what I needed to do, abandon the house in Massachusetts, the remaining things there and move the kids to Maine where they would be healthy and safe. I left my parents the next day and went straight to Maine.
From August to December 2009, I tried to keep the kids as stable as possible. I commuted over 1500 miles per week to keep the kids in school and get to the new job I had taken in the beginning of July. I was exhausted and struggled to keep up appearances. The kids were doing fine, I was not! Chest pain, anxiety, leaving my entire network of friends and family, I was really on my own. Finally, I decided to transition the kids to school up here. I gave up Ben’s seat in the Montessori Charter and prepared to enroll him in public school here. He is still having trouble in school, but it is related to the transition not the school. However, things are not as diverse up here and I have had to intervene on a number of occasions. Bryce is doing well. They are both happy and healthy and could not be better. Looking at them the transition was easier than I thought, to them we just moved to another one of our houses.
For me it was hell. My new job was not as receptive to a single working father as they promised they would be. Well actually, my direct manager was but the Senior Vice President was not. After a scathing e mail at 7 p.m. on a Friday night indicating how disappointed (angered) she was that I was not in the office….I knew the saga would not be pretty. I confronted her on the e mail and was told to find another job. In the time since then I have been told to choose between my job and my family, written up for my misuse of comma’s and told to not discuss, or come out to my colleagues, as some found it uncomfortable given I was a single gay father. Thus, the handwriting is on the wall with that.
We are now in April, have survived the winter, a renovation to take a cottage to a home and for me many sleepless nights trying to get it all done. For the time being I am working remote from here and balancing the kids, career and karate for them am finally seeing some light, but as usual, as long as the kids are OK…..I am ok. Hope you are all doing well and I do have some other news to share but now it is time to start the bedtime routine.