Other than the unanswered questions as to what Janice doing - out of prison, and the concerns for our children, my life in Tulsa was becoming rather comfortable. I had established a number of real friendships with members of our church and people I had met, coming and going, to and from work.
The, I received a strange phone call from San Diego, a woman who referred to herself as "Mrs. Mac" and she claimed to know a lot about Janice and the children. I always suspected that she might be the "other" woman in a relationship that Janice may have established, but she seemed to know each of our children and told me they were doing well - in school. I was grateful to hear that. Unfortunately, after she finally asked me for money and I refused to pay her without specific evidence that she knew for a fact, everything she had been telling me, the communications ended.
I made a mistake after that. Noting an ad for an employment counselor in the newspaper, I responded and was immediately hired, only to discover that this particular agency was not really being honest with applicants; so, I started looking at others. Answering a "blind" ad, I soon discovered it was placed by my employer, so I was gone. It did not take me long to find another and we seemed to be doing quite well until the owner suffered a heart attack and his wife closed the agency.
In the midst of these changes, I had a phone call from Janice asking me to take the boys for the summer. It so happened that I did have a friend with a nice home and two younger boys of her own. She graciously accepted them and Janice flew them out to Tulsa. And that was the beginning of more than just confusion, it seemed to be a conspiracy. Other friends had asked me to "house sit" their home while on vacation and suddenly, I had to arrange for the boys to stay with me. There had to have been conversations that I knew nothing about, but I was doing the best I could considering that fact. I had a new offer from an excellent agency which I accepted, but begged off for a couple of days so that I could take the boys to see Dallas, TX, where I met with some people I had known in CA with the idea that they might have plans for me in the future. It would make more sense as the fees in that area were substantially more than I was earning in Tulsa.
When we got back, the home owners had returned so we had to get another apartment and this time, I found one near to schools as it was my unannounced intention to keep the boys with me. My new job was paying me much more money, so I felt quite comfortable with the new arrangements. I had purchased a new car - for me, but it needed some repairs and I would pick it up the next week. In the meantime, I bought the boys some new school clothes and we caught a ride to church on Sunday,
We all went to Sunday School and as I went to get the boys, I was told that their "Mother" had picked them up and obviously, had left the church area. I borrowed a car and raced out to our apartment where I discovered, the kitchen window had been broken and the boys' things were gone. I immediately called my daughter and was met by a tirade on how bad I was and that their Mother had only done what was right to do. I thought for a minute of heading them off before they got to California, but on the advice of friends, I decided to let them go.
That was the last time I ever saw them, my (now) ex-wife, my sons and my oldest daughter. Thanks be to God, I have since been re-united with my youngest daughter, but even that relationship has had its problems over the years - more to come on that.
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