Editor’s note: The following post was written by the Lovefraud reader “Adelade.”
January 30, 2013, was the “day after” my divorce trial. I was granted my maiden name as a term of the divorce. The rest of the terms aren’t important. What is important is that once I discovered what he had done, he ceased being “mine” in every capacity.
He was no longer “my husband,” and he was never “my spath.” He is his own disordered individual and belongs to himself, solely, and forever.
Once a person is proven to be toxic to me, they are no longer “mine,” and I would like to convey this concept to every LoveFraud reader to consider. When they were “ours,“ they were strictly an illusion. What they truly are does not belong to us, never did belong to us, and we need to lose this reference as “my spath,” or “my ex-spath,” or any connotation that remotely connects them to us.
I had kept specific details of my situation with the ex-spath that I will name as, “Kerby,” very vague due to the sensitive details of my divorce trial. Because he has not yet been charged with a crime or found guilty of that crime, any use of Kerby’s legal name could be construed as slanderous. I can say that he is a State Employee and has been for almost 2 decades. Where he lives will remain vague. What he is, what he’s done, and how I’m recovering will have to come in pieces and parts.
The divorce trial: loss, deception, and disordered behavior
What I can say about my divorce trial experience is that it was fraught with extreme anxiety and deprivations that are not only unbelievable, but conditions under which no human being should be forced to exist in these United States. As a result of Kerby’s deliberate deceptions and actions, I not only lost everything that I had, but my identity as an artist was destroyed when he maliciously wiped out my computer. It contained 9 years of documentation of my work along with files, programs, and vital information with regard to my exhibits, my experience, my abilities, and visual imagery of my artwork. All of that is gone, forever, and there was no legal remedy for his action.
What I can also say about my divorce trial is that Kerby is a coward. When all of the evidence was presented to him by his own attorney, he maintained that he wasn’t going to comply with what would have been reasonable and that he was going to fight to the death to protect his income — a very healthy income as a State Employee. The bankruptcy scare has now turned into a horror show that was written, directed, and produced by Kerby himself. He will, for many years, be paying for his greed and disordered machinations and Karma will, indeed, reign Chaos directly upon his graying head. And, he did it to himself.
The oddest thing about the trial was not the hours of negotiations and Judge’s irritation at Kerby’s childish failure to be “prepared for trial.” The oddest aspect of this was the distinct and glaring indication of just how disordered he truly is. Throughout this ordeal, his mother (also disordered in character and personality), whom he had openly and verbally disdained throughout the sham of a marriage, accompanied him to every hearing, often driving him in her own car, lest her little boy (37 years old) be too upset to drive himself. During the hours of waiting in the courtroom, questions and speculation began circulating throughout the courtroom staff. From the Bailiff to the clerk to even the Judge, himself, the question arose as to why Kerby (the defendant) would “bring his girlfriend to his own divorce trial.” Because of where I was seated, I wasn’t able to observe the behaviors, but there was apparently inappropriate contact between the mother and son that caused the staff to believe that they were lovers.
Kerby is, was, and will forever remain a very, very disordered human being. He was raised by a disordered human being, and anyone that he comes into contact with is in danger of exploitation — any man, woman, child – nobody is immune to his greed, his deviances, and his absolutely childish mental state.
Free in name, heart, soul and spirit
I am free of that man, forever. In name, in heart, in soul, and in spirit, I am free of him and all that I lost is worth this freedom. Today, I begin rebuilding me. When he finally faces charges of criminal fraud, I will not feel one shred of pity or sympathy for him. He is, for all intents and purposes, non-existent. He is no longer “mine,” on any level. He has less meaning than an animal that has been struck and killed by a car – wildlife has no concept of motor vehicles or traffic patterns, and Kerby had every concept that what he was doing was illegal, immoral, and carries harsh consequences.
I would like to urge everyone who is in recovery from a sociopath entanglement to drop the “mine,” and “my” reference to the person who dealt them damage. Only the illusion belonged to us. The spaths belong unto themselves, solely. Feel this freedom. Feel this empowerment that we no longer are being gas-lighted, poisoned, threatened, coerced, manipulated, abused, dismissed, ignored, invalidated, and ruined. We are priceless, each of us, and our recovery is the spit in the eye that they deserve. We will be “happy,” at some point. “They,” on the other hand, will remain organisms that only mimic human beings, forever and ever, amen. And, Karma will certainly knock on their proverbial door in the form of an arresting officer, a Judge, a jury, or God in Heaven. We may be a catalyst to that Karma, and we may not be. But, everything is all about recovery, boundaries, and fueling our own emotional power, from this point on.
heartbrokenmom,
As painful as having a spath in your life is, it is also very eye opening. We can learn so much about ourselves and human beings in general, when we let the pain focus our attention.
The fact is, spaths are something we would not choose to look at, if we had a choice. It’s only when the choice is taken away because of our “close call” that we open our eyes and see more truth than we ever wanted to see.
For myself, I guess I always thought that I couldn’t handle the truth. But it turns out that I can.
Your truth will be for you to determine, but it might be along the lines of: You had a biological son and he is a danger to you and to society. He doesn’t have any feelings of warmth to you or his father or towards anyone, therefore biology doesn’t create attachment and it doesn’t create relationships. If being a mother, father, or a son is about relationships, then your son is not “a son”, he’s just a person you gave birth to.
Heartbrokenmom,
What Skylar says is true, DNA does NOT make family…love does. Connectedness and cariing do. DNA does not. I have a P male DNA donor, or had, he’s dead now, and though I TRIED to have a relationship with him, I was unable to so, was no contact for 40+ years until his death.
My Maternal DNA donor isn’t a psychopath, but she is a TOXIC enabler and sends money and hires attorneys to try to get my son Patrick out of prison, even KNOWING he tried to have me killed. I am NC with her though we live on the same piece of land.
It HURTS to cut ties with those we love, but Truthy is also correct in that YOUR PAIN IS 100% and MY pain is 100% and it doesn’t matter if you have one leg broken or two, the pain is 100% Each of us suffers 100% pain because of the loss of someone we love. It IS DIFFERENT when it is a DNA connection but I am not sure it is any worse than a romantic relationship, I’ve lost on both counts and I can’t say one is more painful than the other.
So keep coming back, keep- reading and keep the conversations going and ask questions or just VENT. It’s okay. God bless and comfort you.
Skylar, I understand and agree that he has no feelings of love for us. He only wants what he can take from us. I’m still having trouble letting go of the feelings of love I have for him. I want to let go and I’m determined to do it, but it is the hardest thing I have ever attempted. I wish with all my heart that there was some kind of help for people like him. I try to imagine what it would be like not to have feelings like love, empathy, compassion. What an empty way to live.
Heartbroken mom, you don’t HAVE TO LET GO of your LOVE for him (the emotional connection) but you have to set boundaries for what contact you will allow….and with people like my son and yours is the old “give them an inch and they will take a mile” and so NO contact seems to be the best way to go because if we allow them into our homes and lives they will steal or hurt us in some other way.
That doesn’t mean you can’t love him FROM A DISTANCE or that you cease to pray for him, it just means that you must keep him at a distance so he does not hurt you any more. That hurts too, but it is self protective and very necessary.
Don’t focus on trying to quit loving him, because that isn’t the important thing right now, right now you have to keep him from hurting you any more.
Heartbrokenmom, Skylar and OxD are spot-on. I really like what OxD said about NOT focusing on trying to stop yourself from loving him. I really do.
“No Contact” may be painful, sad, and grievous, but it’s really the only way (to date) to implement self-protection. Every time that door opens, it’s with US extending our hands in love and forgiveness and THEM reaching for our throats. It is inevitable. And, just because it is inevitable and true does NOT mean we have to “like” it.
Acceptance comes in tiny steps, Mom. I don’t LIKE that my son is a sociopath, but I’ve come to accept that fact and deal with it. This is no easy task, and you are too precious in this vast Universe to allow any man, woman, OR child to deliberately harm you.
Brightest and most sincere blessings of encouragement
Adelade,
Thank you for this article. My divorce was final 4 months ago and truthfully it didn’t bring the freedom I thougth it would, but I’m beginning to realize that it’s because I allow myself to continually feel oppressed by him. You’re right, he was never “my” anything. He was “AN” evil person, but he wasn’t mine. I’ve had no contact (something I thankfully learned here) except for minimal exchanges in regards to the children, but truthfully that too only brought me minimal freedom. I think what you wrote today is what I needed to hear. It’s up to me to be free of him. It’s not up to him to let me go, or grant me freedom. The divorce court granted me a “legal”, “law of the land” divorce, but I must grant myself my own freedom. It’s my choice, not his. I choose to be free of him.
I’m not sure but I think “freedom” from a psychopath may mean different things to each of us. To me, more than anything else, it means I stop blaming myself, and berating myself for falling victim to him; for trusting someone who can’t be trusted, and for believing his lies, and for allowing him to mistreat me for so many years. Freedom to me means letting go of all of that, remembering only what I need to remember in order to protect myself and my children from the spaths around us, not “our” spaths, but “those” spaths who are out there.
And freedom to me means I stop fretting about how unfair it is and how much better my life could have been had I not become ensnared by him. It’s time to move on and be thankful that I survived and that I am stronger and braver, and wiser, and oh so compassionate to the suffering around me. Yes, I lost a lot, but I gained an awful lot too.
Thanks again, Adelade. Your article really helped me to reach for that freedom I so desire and I find myself closer to it tonight!
Lovingthem, you put it perfectly: “…it means I stop blaming myself, and berating myself for falling victim to him; for trusting someone who can’t be trusted, and for believing his lies, and for allowing him to mistreat me for so many years.”
Yes, yes, YES!!!!! TOWANDA TO YOU!!!! And, congratulations on your divorce.
Brightest blessings
Thanks truth speak! Congratulations are definitely in order when one musters up the courage and divorces a spath!
Lovingthem, LOL!!! Yepper!
heartbrokenmom,
Keep praying for your son. He’s a prodigal child. I know I had a rough relationship with my mom and it started when I turned 14 and started my independence and personal growth and abilities. My mom was not happy with me to show independence from her as well as my personal growth and abilities cause her serious jealousy towards me. Moms should always be loving and supportive, encouraging, that’s what God teaches. But if you end up with a “Cain” you cannot help that, he will be banished and dealt with. The thing you should always do is pray and hope one day that you will see him in heaven if what you have on earth is not reconciled. He will forever be a part of you, and praying for his safety and soft heart towards what is right, is the best you can do. Trust the rest has already been done.
God bless.
Keeping you in prayer too.