I am now ON MY OWN

In August of 2009 with my 14-year-old daughter and my 10-year-old son in tow, I left my marriage of almost 20 years.  I found it impossible to continue living with the verbal abuse, and when I began seeing signs of physical abuse, I was done.  Less than a year later, my former husband met someone online, quit his job, moved across the country, remarried, and hasn't seen or spoken to the kids since. He is currently attempting to eliminate his responsibility, financially and parentally, to the children he once seemed to love more than anyone else in the world. Now, almost two years later, my children and I are beginning to heal.  But I am left wondering why our justice system works in such a way that the ones left behind are the ones that seem to sufer most.  I quit my teaching career, which I loved, of 17 years to get a job that paid more so I could take better care of my children and myself, yet he is not working.  I take them to the dentist, the doctor, school, sports, activities and get up with them in the middle of the night when they are sick, yet I have to pinch pennies to afford their school supplies.  I wait and wait and wait for Social Services to find him and push to get money from him, yet I am told that the wait may be endless; I may never see a penny.  I am positive by nature, and I want to live a happy life.  I tend to see the good in things.  I want to hear from other people who have been left on their own.  I want to hear what you have done to stay positive in the face of fierce opposition.  I want to hear the good.  I want to hear the bad.  I want to learn more from others.  I think that talking to others who truly understand can lead to the greatest healing possible