It had been a wonderfully enjoyable and romantic trip. The past year
had been very good to Helena and Stanford Clayton Sr. They both had so
much to be grateful for; as a couple and as individuals. Their marriage
had gone through a severe trial as a result of a variety of contributing
factors that conspired them to ultimate ruination. But, by the mercy of
God, and divine intervention the marriage had survived and not only
merely survived...it was thriving and they had never been so happy. It
was almost like they rediscovered each other and recognized that they
were two people independent of each other; yet still a couple.
In other words, after many years of ignoring the critical signs of marital breakdown, and refusing to address the problem areas of their marriage, Helena and Stanford were tremendously blessed to salvage the remains of a tortured and disintegrating union. After the domestic disturbance they experienced, no one expected them to be able to carry on. The almost total meltdown of them as a married couple had literally been a saving grace.
All of their children and grandchildren were prospering nicely with the exception of Myranda. Myranda Clayton Rice was the middle child, and quite frankly she was the one least expected to be the problem child. If Helena and Stanford would have had to name a child out of the three offspring, it would have been Stanford Jr., (the oldest) that would have been expected to ...well...have issues. Myranda and her husband Palmer had lost quite a bit of money a few years back in a pyramid scheme. Probably one of Palmer's biggest faults was his love of money. He was always looking for ways to turn an easy buck, and not all of these avenues had been exactly above board. His real vice was when he dragged his wife into it and convinced her to invest some of her own private funds into whatever cockamamie thing he was up to at the moment. And at that particular moment, he was into the so-called fast easy money making pyramid scheme.
Myranda knew it was the wrong thing to do when she married Palmer Rice, but she was hell bent on defying her parents. At the end of a brief courtship (she and Palmer dated for six weeks before getting married) they ran off to tie the knot to the dismay and the disappointment of both sets of parents. Palmer bore the brunt of the burden of the illegal scam, and subsequently the worst of the punishment that had been doled out to the four scammers. Philip Dover and Connor Woods were partners in crime with Palmer and had both received the same sentence. Jacob Hearn (who was married to Myranda's sister Regina) and also a pyramid partner had gotten off with the lightest of the sentences. He had to serve three years in a minimum security facility that was more of a "state run country club" than a correctional facility, but whereas he may have gotten off lightly as far as the law was concerned, his ultimate cost came at the dissolution of his marriage. Regina Hearn sued him for divorce the day he went off to "prison" and promptly put him out of her life.
With the financial aid of her parents, she was able to make a fresh start for herself and her twin sons; Eric and Eli. Not only did she set out to recoup her losses (which she did) but she actually made more money through hard work and dedication than she had thought she would. While Regina pulled her life out of the toilet and handled her business like a woman, Myranda on the other hand, used the situation to dig herself further into a hole. Her two children Julia and Kirk were already disadvantaged by the fate of their father, and she only made it worse by just about abandoning them in pursuit of her own worldly pleasures, being selfish and feeling endowed at the same time. When Palmer went off to prison, Julia was only a year old, and Kirk was just turning three. Helena had kept them at her home for nearly a year, providing a full time nanny and giving them both the love and support her wayward daughter could not seem to find the time or the inclination to give.
Now, it is a few years later, and although Myranda has come a long ways from where she was at one time, there was still quite a bit of road remaining to travel. The most important thing to come from her rehabilitation was that she had reconciled to be a better mother to Julia and Kirk. She was making remarkable progress in that area, but her weakness for men was still her personal demon and a wound that didn't want to heal.
Stanford had rescued his beautiful, smart, sexy wife from being a mother of three adult children and grandmother to four lovely and wonderful kids. He took this wife and grandmother away for a long, relaxing vacation; but here's the thing...he left going on this vacation with his wife. He spent the vacation with his woman. His desire was to leave the wife behind and release the woman within to be free to be all that she could, would and should be during the two weeks they spent on the French Riviera. It was a great life and it was filled with doing incredible things.
They were blessed and would never, ever forget it.
In other words, after many years of ignoring the critical signs of marital breakdown, and refusing to address the problem areas of their marriage, Helena and Stanford were tremendously blessed to salvage the remains of a tortured and disintegrating union. After the domestic disturbance they experienced, no one expected them to be able to carry on. The almost total meltdown of them as a married couple had literally been a saving grace.
All of their children and grandchildren were prospering nicely with the exception of Myranda. Myranda Clayton Rice was the middle child, and quite frankly she was the one least expected to be the problem child. If Helena and Stanford would have had to name a child out of the three offspring, it would have been Stanford Jr., (the oldest) that would have been expected to ...well...have issues. Myranda and her husband Palmer had lost quite a bit of money a few years back in a pyramid scheme. Probably one of Palmer's biggest faults was his love of money. He was always looking for ways to turn an easy buck, and not all of these avenues had been exactly above board. His real vice was when he dragged his wife into it and convinced her to invest some of her own private funds into whatever cockamamie thing he was up to at the moment. And at that particular moment, he was into the so-called fast easy money making pyramid scheme.
Myranda knew it was the wrong thing to do when she married Palmer Rice, but she was hell bent on defying her parents. At the end of a brief courtship (she and Palmer dated for six weeks before getting married) they ran off to tie the knot to the dismay and the disappointment of both sets of parents. Palmer bore the brunt of the burden of the illegal scam, and subsequently the worst of the punishment that had been doled out to the four scammers. Philip Dover and Connor Woods were partners in crime with Palmer and had both received the same sentence. Jacob Hearn (who was married to Myranda's sister Regina) and also a pyramid partner had gotten off with the lightest of the sentences. He had to serve three years in a minimum security facility that was more of a "state run country club" than a correctional facility, but whereas he may have gotten off lightly as far as the law was concerned, his ultimate cost came at the dissolution of his marriage. Regina Hearn sued him for divorce the day he went off to "prison" and promptly put him out of her life.
With the financial aid of her parents, she was able to make a fresh start for herself and her twin sons; Eric and Eli. Not only did she set out to recoup her losses (which she did) but she actually made more money through hard work and dedication than she had thought she would. While Regina pulled her life out of the toilet and handled her business like a woman, Myranda on the other hand, used the situation to dig herself further into a hole. Her two children Julia and Kirk were already disadvantaged by the fate of their father, and she only made it worse by just about abandoning them in pursuit of her own worldly pleasures, being selfish and feeling endowed at the same time. When Palmer went off to prison, Julia was only a year old, and Kirk was just turning three. Helena had kept them at her home for nearly a year, providing a full time nanny and giving them both the love and support her wayward daughter could not seem to find the time or the inclination to give.
Now, it is a few years later, and although Myranda has come a long ways from where she was at one time, there was still quite a bit of road remaining to travel. The most important thing to come from her rehabilitation was that she had reconciled to be a better mother to Julia and Kirk. She was making remarkable progress in that area, but her weakness for men was still her personal demon and a wound that didn't want to heal.
Stanford had rescued his beautiful, smart, sexy wife from being a mother of three adult children and grandmother to four lovely and wonderful kids. He took this wife and grandmother away for a long, relaxing vacation; but here's the thing...he left going on this vacation with his wife. He spent the vacation with his woman. His desire was to leave the wife behind and release the woman within to be free to be all that she could, would and should be during the two weeks they spent on the French Riviera. It was a great life and it was filled with doing incredible things.
They were blessed and would never, ever forget it.
No comments:
Post a Comment