To refresh the reader's memory from Part 1, I had given some background information about my (then) girlfriend (now wife), and our relationship, which culminated into her going to visit her stepfather in Miami for a vacation. I suggest reading the first post linked above for more context. The account that I am reciting is 100% TRUE/non-fiction/not writing this for entertainment purposes. That doesn't mean you'll believe me, but that's not my problem.

As a quick reminder, I am still an atheist at this point. So, to pick up where we left off...

The events that unfold from here on out are a combination of what I experienced firsthand (which wasn't much, because I was just some guy who got dumped at this point), and what she described to me after everything had settled down. I have come to realize that because of her "tormentors," there are pieces that I know she does not remember. Because I am now a chief player in the current "situation," I can now look back at this event from 2016 and see the similarities, and so I know that a lot, if not most, of it she did remember. From what she told me over the several years after the fact (and to the best of my memory - this is the first time I'm recording this in the 5 years since it happened, and my wife is not "here" -if you know what I mean - to help me piece it together right now), she landed at the airport and left her stepfather high and dry, telling him she was going to visit friends instead. She rented a car and drove to the beach. She walked about knee- or hip-deep into the ocean with intention of drowning herself, before having a moment of clarity and deciding against it. In this moment of clarity, she reflected on her decisions back in Colorado and what she was about to do just then, and just sat on the beach steeped in a deep depression. She called her mom as a cry for help and direction. For context, they do not have the warmest relationship, but I'm sure you the reader can sympathize with a need for maternal support at that moment. Her mom was shocked to hear that she had left me and ditched her stepfather, was in Miami beach alone, and was in such bad shape, and began yelling at her to get her stuff together and go home. This was not the correct response for someone in distress and anguish; and the moment of clarity, if it was still in effect, was over.

She returned to her rental car, and in a rage, drove it into a telephone pole. According to her own account, she continued to step on the gas while this car was lodged into the pole, screaming I'm not sure what, until some guy opened the driver side door and put his own foot on the brake, telling her to calm down and get out of the car. She eventually did, and walked away from the whole scene before cops or any other authorities arrived (I believe she got the "full insurance" on the rental - sucks for them). At some point, she tried to walk into a strip club and yell at everyone inside the place that they were exploiting women (and was promptly removed), and then decided to go for a swim. So she found herself a hotel pool and went swimming - naked. I want to say she swam in a few hotels' pools, but I'm not sure how that worked with the nudity. But I do know that she eventually made another scene, yelling at someone about some major problem in the world that needed fixing, and eventually found herself, still naked and in a hotel pool, yelling at a pair of cops that were called on her. 

She was then hospitalized for a length of time that I can't remember now (maybe 3 days, or closer to a week?), was medicated, and released. I also don't remember how she ended up back at our apartment, but I want to say that her mom got her a plane ticket, or maybe I bought it. She arrived back to me calm and courteous, but not well.

She told me what happened in Miami but basically played it off as a one-off mental break that she recovered from after some treatment. I couldn't believe the story that she told me, but I was ready to be there for her in whatever capacity that I could be. Frankly, I didn't have have experience with mental health issues (and as an atheist I didn't believe in anything more than that), so I may not have been much use besides just trying to cater to her wants as much as I could. She was a little worse upon her return then when she left originally, and was only back for a short time before she sits down on the couch in tears and tells me that she's leaving me. I was shocked; even though she made threats in the past, they always seemed empty and now she went through all of this other craziness and she wants to ditch the primary person trying to help her through it? Frankly, I wasn't a bad boyfriend at all. Not perfect, but not breakup-worthy in my mind. And I had finally gotten a job that paid big boy money that was more than her without me needing to work overtime, after all that complaining, and she leaves NOW?? There was no other real "elephant in the relationship" besides that. And again, I was being as supportive as I knew how to be. Why leave me now?

So yes, I was shocked, and hurt, and angry. It didn't make sense to me. And looking back, it didn't really make sense in general. She told me that she was going to grab some stuff, and she was leaving again. I can't remember where she told me that she was going or even if she told me.  I was now the spurned ex-boyfriend, and no longer overly invested in the situation anymore, although I obviously still had feelings and I had great concerns about her behavior, regardless of her assurances that it was all over with and better now. Shame on me for not being a better human, but I had no experience with this kind of thing, and why would she lie? At the end of the day though, she is a grown adult who I was in no position to stop. I'm sure I could have tried to convince her to stay a little harder, but I was also hurt and pretty angry at the decision.

So she left. Again. 

She never told me about any "influences" that drove her to do all those things in Miami, but she did describe to me what was driving her behavior from then on, which I will talk about in the next post in this series. However, I have to assume that she was also being persuaded/convinced/seduced into doing all that crazy stuff in Miami as well, by the same force(s), and even before then. The first thing she did in the 2016 "episode" was to leave me, and (spoiler alert) the first thing she did in the 2021 episode was to tell me that we're getting divorced. It hasn't happened yet, but this episode is still ongoing, so I'm just catching the reader up to the present.

Until next time, stay prayed up and seek God. He is your only defense against the things that I will be describing in these posts. And He will answer you if you call on him in sincerity. It won't be in the way or time that you want, but you'll find out later that His way was better anyway :-)

Link to Part 1 is here - Facing Down Demons Part 1 - Intro, Prologue, and Context