When I was growing up with my parents I never wanted to have what they had. I didn't want shouting - I didn't ask for shouting, and I most certainly didn't ask for the rest of the crap that went along with a mentally abusive alcoholic father and absolutely fabulous gorgeous mother, a fresh white daisy - quite frankly. I was young when I started to notice the shouting, indiscretions, drunkeness - a very interesting and odd feeling that, as a child, you experience -> by day, a real charm of a man - successful textiles man, someone that I looked up to - always fresh in his bespoke suits - crisp -> by night, a sick idiot of a man - sloppy, always "sloppy-slurred" or a have a "sloppy-slurpy" - they should name a drink that - just poor habits, like yelling at my mother and forcing my brother and I to flee constantly in the middle of the night - only to return to a house where the windows and doors have been bolted - nailed shut. I never wanted what they had.
I met Kelly, my (ex)wife, in March of 1993. It was cold that night - very biting, even for a March in Toronto - Kelly is a dead-ringer for Minnie Driver - strong and hot. A very strong person - and brilliantly lit. So I was hooked right from the second that I laid my eyes on her - she seemed to glow. I had to meet her. I was completely fixated by the way she moved - especially at 4:30am in a dingy-popular after-hours in downtown Toronto. She soon sat down and I approached her with a close friend of mine. She was amazing - just as I had suspected - interesting, funny and very good looking - petite brunette - flawless skin covering a perfect face with razor-sharp angles - again, just as I had suspected. So three hours later as we sped into a noon-less day up University Avenue and across Wellesley St. - we talked about our favourite movies - Kelly: Princess Bride; Geoff: Less Than Zero - I know, an odd choice, but still to this day if someone asks me what my favourite movie is - Less Than Zero blurts out -> my hat is off by the way to BEE - Totally brilliant man. Love Actually would become OUR movie - just a beautiful movie - it really is - if you haven't seen it - do yourself a favour and buy it. Don't rent it - much more economical to purchase b/c you'll want to watch it over and over. Quite f*cking tortuous really. Anyways, we had just a lovely cab ride and exchanged numbers. And so it began, the most amazing and revealing six years of my life.
Over the following weeks, as I reconcile the order of my relationship with my (ex)wife and explore my past - I should be able to understand how I came to be at the present. A lonely mis-guided (well-dressed) professional - seeking to understand what the next chapter in his life should be. And I look forward to purging it all, onto this page - chiefly for the sheer therapy of it all. I invite you to join me.
