There have been some baby steps made by The Abuser and my mom.
- His truck (his “precious baby” truck) has reportedly moved to his house. This is huge. He loves that truck more than anything else. He was storing it in the extra garage bay at my mom’s.
- He helped set up for and then went to the 3-day gun show in Paris. While he was gone, my mom visited lots with my grandmother. Mama Bee saw glimmers of “the old Annabee” in her words, tone, and body language. She was a lot less rattled with him gone for a few days.
- At the end of their visit on Sunday, my mom mentioned not being able to get gas. Mama Bee took her up to the station to teach her how to pump gas, again. She hasn’t done it in so long that she forgot how. This blows my mind.
- How did she forget how to do something she’s been doing since long before she could drive (since there was a gas station in our family when my mom was young)?
- How shattered is her self confidence that she can’t read the instructions on the screen and follow along to pump gas? How damaged is she, really?
- She knows the law; if she asks for help, they have to give it to her. Why not just ask?
She is still afraid of being alone. I get that, but she’s so much better with him gone than with him there. We can help her with the stuff she’s afraid of like getting gas and resetting the clocks every time change. (And wow she hangs up on the smallest of things, huh?)….
…but we can’t help her make him leave. She has to do that all on her own and because she wants to.