3 Days from now I'll be divorced, barring some last-minute miracle. I'll be in court the morning after Valentine's Day, and on the anniversary of my father's death. February is turning out to be a bad month.<P>Saturday, I nearly got into a head-on collision with some idiot on a cell phone in an SUV...if your gonna turn left in an intersection, and there's oncoming traffic, and you don't have the right of way...the least you could do is use your blinker!<P>Anyway, yesterday my parent's house caught fire. The house where I grew up burned like a torch. Everyone got out okay, and its not a total loss, but it's unlivable, and will be for three months. Many, many family heirlooms went up in smoke. So when I get home today, I find that my 12 year old daughter has been playing with matches!!!<P>There was a book of matches left on the grill (warm weather in AZ means year-round BBQ), and a burnt out match in the trash can! Thank God she couldn't figure out how to turn the gas grill on, or I would've had two houses burn in two days.<P>Now, she has no idea how serious this is...how can I communicate it to her? She's stubborn, prone to lying (like her mom!) and insists she didn't do anything. She's obviously throwing a subconcious tantrum at having to split her time between here and STBX's apartment, but I'm terrified that I'll come home to a disaster one day...help!<P>I wound up having to talk to STBX about this (we've not been speaking for a few days), so that was akward, with the divorce so close. <P>Now here's where it gets strange...I called my mom to see what was specifically lost in the fire. My dad's fishing trophies (a hundred or so that he collected over a few years...he was the greatest fisherman ever), most of his collection of German beer glasses that he, um, "acquired" from pubs in Germany in '57 were all smashed, and our box of Christmas ornaments was all burned up. Now, we never bought new ornaments. Each one was given as a gift, or made especially for us kids, or inherited from someone over the years. Each one was unique and had some meaning, so each year our tree was like a tree full of fond memories. The oldest was the angel for the top of the tree...something my dad had inherited from his parents 40 years ago. Somehow, though the box was in the center of the fire, the angel fell out, fell through the collapsing roof, and into the dining room. Her wings had come off, and she was soaking wet, but basically intact.<P>Was that a sign?<P>I called STBX to give her the news...it was obvious that I had caught her in the middle of a very hard cry. Apparently this divorce is harder on her than I thought. I asked her if she was okay, she said yes, and wouldn't say anymore. I said good-night, but I can't help wondering what will happen Thursday.<P>Long, rambling, and weird...I know, but things are just too weird at the end!
