Ch 32. The life is full of surprises.

         I entered Fred's office half expecting it would be my last day at LOF. “Close the door and sit down.” Fred seemed to be in a jovial mood. “How do you like working in the maintenance department?” There was no sense to be diplomatic. “I hate it. It is the worst job I ever had. You never told about the problems I would have with group-leaders, or how Gareth became a foreman. Actually you never told me anything about my job, how do you expect me to run the maintenance? When I wanted to make some changes you never backed me up. I don’t know why you hired me, I am an engineer, and you need a good foreman to reorganize the maintenance for the Just in Time.” 
         “I am sorry about it. How would you like to work as an engineer in the office?” I could not believe what Fred was saying. “As an engineer?? I thought you were going to fire me.” He chuckled. “I am afraid we were not completely honest with you.  We are planning a big increase in production and will be installing a lot of new equipment. We will need an engineer. However to increase the office staff is complicated process. It must be approved by the head office in Toledo and then it goes to the board of directors for a review.  When we saw your resume you were just the type of engineer we were looking for. We were also going to hire another maintenance foreman so we decided to give you that job temporarily. We couldn't promise you the engineering job and working in maintenance would give you a good idea about the production line and its problems.” Also we could keep an eye on you and see how you would handle the group leaders. You did quite well.” 

       My head was spinning. Instead of being fired I got promoted! Next Monday I moved into my new office. Fred dropped a sheet of paper on my desk, “These are your projects. If you have some problems come to see me. I am too busy right now and will go over the list with you next week.” I was already familiar with many of the projects and started to work on them right away. The engineer's job was a new position without any job description and I was left alone to be my own boss. The maintenance department got a new foreman with years of experience and he made many changes. 
       Gareth became “sick” and retired with a long term disability pension. Bill Butter’s wish came through and he was promoted to foreman.   With my job secured we bought a house and settled down. Our kids started to go to school and my wife was looking for a job. She was lucky and found work at the Harding Carpets factory as a secretary, but was not happy with the job. She hoped that one day, when our kids were older she would be able to go back to school to become a Registered Massage Therapist. 

        One day I was flipping through the Toronto Star at work and noticed an article about a  massage therapy school in Sutton. The school would be expanding the program and changing it from a one year to a two year course. I brought the paper home and showed it to my wife. She wanted to take the one year course if possible. She had saved enough money to cover the tuition, could we manage? This would be her only opportunity to get ahead. We could manage, but it would be difficult for me and the kids to be alone for the whole year.   When we got married my wife had just finished high school. After that I went to university, and after graduation we moved to Kitimat in BC where our two kids were born. So my wife only had a high school education. There was another reason why I supported her to go back to school. Our marriage 
was losing steam, we didn’t have much in common any more, maybe one year apart and her being back in school would improve our things. She called the school, was accepted and a month later moved to Sutton. 

       All of a sudden our lives had changed considerably. “We are a team,” I told Mark and Michael, “we have to work together” and we divided our work. One of them would do their laundry and the other would prepare one night’s supper in the slow cooker.  The next week they would switch their chores and I, as a single dad, would be in charge of everything else.  It took us couple of weeks to get into a routine, but considering that the kids were only in the second and third grade, we managed quite well. Needless to say we were looking forward to the weekend when my wife came home and gave us a break from our chores.   My work started earlier and the kids were left alone at home, watching cartoons on TV, the timer ticking to make sure that they left for school on time. One day I had to go home at lunch time and got a shock. The front door was wide open; the television was blaring cartoons, pyjamas were thrown on the floor and house was in disarray. There was no sense in punishing them; I had to shake them up. I took our old crappy black and white the television to our neighbors for safe keeping and left the house in mess, making sure the door was left open.
  
     
           

         When I came home from work, the house was in uproar. “The television is gone, somebody stole it!”Soon accusations started to fly: “You didn't turn off the television “, “And you didn’t close the front door!”, “You shut off the timer and I was late for school!” I have to say that I enjoyed the scene. For the next two weeks our house was quiet and after inflicting sufficient punishment I brought the television back, leaving it on the steps at the door. When I came home from work, the television was on and the kids were ecstatic. “The television is back, the thief brought it back. We got his fingerprints!"  Fingerprints of the thief? Then I remembered, they had got a Young Detective Set for Christmas and learned how to lift fingerprints. Luckily I was not under suspicion and didn't have to submit my fingerprints. 

     My wife's course passed the halfway mark and she seemed to be completely fixated by it. She seemed to be more interested showing me how to massage sore muscles than talking about the kids and their school. I took her back to Sutton and she introduced me to a couple of her schoolmates. We went for coffee and while they talked excitedly about their courses, teachers and wellness, I sat there mostly silent; it was all over my head.

           
           

       One weekend when her school year was almost finished, I wanted to talk to her about her future  plans. “I have something very serious I want to talk to you about.” She said. We put kids to bed and sat down. “After I went to school, I realized we are not compatible. We have completely different interests and I don't see that changing. I feel suffocated in this marriage. I want a divorce.” I was shocked, I couldn't believe my ears. This is my wife talking? We talked and argued into the night. I tried to tell her that we could start fresh, without her being stressed and frustrated; we have two small kids, what will happen to them?  But we were not getting anywhere. I made her promise that she would think about it again during the week. My head was spinning, I felt hurt and angry. I spent the whole year looking after our kids and this is how she is paying me back? I just couldn't imagine a divorce. What would our friends, our neighbors think about it? What about our kids? Where are they going live? I thought about it for a long time. We have lived together for a year and managed quite well. I decided that if we get divorced, Mark and Michael will stay with me.    

        Next weekend I went with the kids to the bus station in Barrie to pick up my wife. “Have you changed your mind?“ I asked her as we were going home. No, she hadn't. “You better tell the kids now”. And in a firm, quiet voice my wife started to tell them their dad and mum were not going to live 
together, they are going to get a divorce. Pandemonium broke in the car. The kids cried, sobbed, begged us not to do it, but my wife repeated in the same voice that we were not going to live together. Over the weekend we talked mainly about how to split up our possessions, there was no sense to talking about patching up our relationship; my wife was determined to leave. I told her that I would keep the kids, expecting arguments. There was none, her mind was set on starting a new life and next weekend she moved out to live with her parents. Some couples take months or years to separate and to fight over a divorce. Our marriage ended in two weeks. 

Kids with their dad.....