The Kendra's Journal Podcast

Mom went to Spokane to visit Mac and got very confused about her situation. She felt obligated to give Mac another chance after he told her he’d changed. Us boys had been with family for over a month but were finally back in Bend with Mom. Mac came to Bend for a visit and that mixed up Mom’s feelings even more. They had fun, but Mac also went through Mom’s things and read the Journal. Phillip talks about the new bike seat he got.

Direct download: Kendras_Journal_Podcast_160.mp3
Category:Personal Journal -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

Mom reread some of the journal and was left feeling depressed. Mac was tormenting her about everything she did which ended up with mom packing up some stuff so the three of us could go to Oregon without Mac. We were back very soon afterward though. Mac was close to being released from some of the conditions of his parole and Mom wondered how he would react. Even though life wasn’t very good, Mom was happy to have her car fixed. Mac hit a year of being out and Mom was getting even more frustrated at his anger. This brought her to a breaking point and we made our escape. After moving, Mom got a new job in the new town but Mac found us and was trying to turn on the charm to get Mom back.

Direct download: Kendras_Journal_Podcast_159.mp3
Category:Personal Journal -- posted at: 2:43pm PDT

We moved into a new house so us boys got our own rooms and Mac got a shop for his carpentry. Mom and Mac talked things out and agreed they needed to keep their communication open but Mac’s violence was making Mom question if things would last between them. Mac got a call from his best friend and we built a weight (torture) rack out of our old bunk bed frame. Then Mac nearly killed our cat because it stole some fried trout off of Mat’s plate and then Mac got a very large, very expensive machine for his shop courtesy of Vocational Rehab. Phillip took a CPR class so he had an excuse to stay away from home and Mat got a new skateboard. Mom was looking for work because Mac said she needed to but things were bad and only getting worse. Mom was questioning if she should take the welfare money and run. She was also wondering if Mac might run off with his friend after they reconnected. We got our first microwave, which got put to a pretty untraditional use right away and we share a lot more memories, but unfortunately none of them good.

Direct download: Kendras_Journal_Podcast_158.mp3
Category:Personal Journal -- posted at: 12:42pm PDT

The extra money Mac was caught with had to be donated to keep him out of trouble. He finally got his release date, April 30, 1987. Mom was hoping our car would be fixed in time to pick Mac up and with only a little time left she was getting our home ready to welcome him and start a new chapter in our lives. So Mac gets out and things… aren’t exactly going as expected. Mom’s writing became sporadic, stress was obviously building. Mom and Mac were “debating” a lot and Mom figured that adjusting to freedom is harder than expected so after Mac got his license she just brushed off a lot of it as his adjustment. Mom and Mac got some news that helped take some stress off the situation and us boys were headed off to visit family for a week. Mom turned 29 and we made her a cake and some cards. Mac got a truck and Mom revealed some of the reality of our new life and it wasn’t good. Unfortunately, it had just begun.

Direct download: Kendras_Journal_Podcast_157.mp3
Category:Personal Journal -- posted at: 12:00am PDT

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