My Intro (You won't believe my last four years)

[GirlKangaroo]

Hi all,

My friends joke that my recent life should be a movie and I reply with "It would need to be a trilogy". Seriously....

2016 - Move to a large property in NSW to care for wildlife (house burns down 3 days later)

2017 - Buy a second property and move again with my ex-partner (who appears to have narcissistic personality disorder) and start caring for wildlife

2018 - Finances start getting difficult. Controlling ex-partner won't let me sell one of the properties even though I paid for both and am the only one who works. Paying two mortgages is HARD.

2019 - The relationship is so bad I end up losing my successful career due to my huge drop in self-confidence due to the abuse. I split up with the controlling ex-partner, but then a couple who my psychologist describes as 'thieves and con artists' convinced me to sell them my other property in a very dodgy one-sided deal and THEN the Black Summer Bushfires destroy my home and property (that's right, second house to burn to the ground in 3 years). Also, my other property was destroyed the same day. Oh, and because I cared for wildlife, I returned to my destroyed property and thanks to help from volunteers and vets, we remained on the property putting out spot fires and treating injured wildlife for months. I lived for six weeks without septic, running water or electricity so I could help the wildlife.

2020 - 14 months since my split and the controlling ex-partner has already cost me $60K in legals and we haven't even made it into mediation. Even the judge is getting annoyed at his lawyer's shenanigans. I now find myself in three, yes THREE upcoming court battles. One with the ex, one with the people who took advantage of me and a defamation case. To top it all off, my younger brother died and even that wasn't an ordinary death. He was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia but had a criminal record so he'd been in detention for over 4 years. His death in detention is with the coroner and they can't give us a cause of death yet because the coroner has decided it needs a full inquiry.

So... a prolonged and painful 'divorce' from a 5 year relationship with no kids, two bushfires, one house fire, the loss of my 24 year career and a death in the family.The last 18-months of my life have been beyond difficult. My love for the wildlife is the only thing that keeps me going.

[smallwolf]

hi and welcome.

Two things struck me about your story - the apparent sense of humor in the first sentence, and the strength you exhibit in the dealing with all the challenges you have had to face in recent history. Any one of the things you mentioned can be stressful enough and the fact that you have had to deal with a number of stressful situations is a testament to your character.

I am not sure exactly what you might be looking or in a reply, but what I can say is the people here are all accepting and supportive. And if you want to chat about anything here, I will listen and reply as I can. This might sound like a dumb question... How are you feeling now?

Peace to you,

Tim

[GirlKangaroo]

Hi Tim and thank you for the response. I don't really know what I'm looking for. I haven't even mentioned the worst thing that is (still) happening to me for fear they will come across this post. I am seeing a psychologist once a fortnight (have been doing so since mid-2019), but I think the hardest thing for me to accept through all of this, is how horrible some people are and how some people will deliberately take advantage of you at your very lowest point. In my case, that was the initial couple of months I was caring for surviving wildlife after the bushfire.

How am I feeling now is a great question and thank you for asking. I guess I'm shell shocked. trying to figure out how the heck I went from being successfully self-employed and happy and comfortable, known as strong and resilient, to such a shell of my former self, that people were able to take advantage of me at my lowest point, and I guess, shock that there are people capable of doing significant damage to others for their own financial (or other) gain. No wonder I prefer animals to people most of the time.

[james1]

Hello GirlKangaroo,

It's nice to meet you here, and I'm glad to hear you are seeing a psychologist once a fortnight, but it sounds like there's still a lot you've not been able to tell us and I hope this is something you feel safe talking to your psychologist about.

It is really hard to be taken advantage of when you are at your lowest, and unfortunately people like that do exist. But one of the big reasons why I'm really glad you've come to talk to us is because in my time here, I've seen nothing but compassion and understanding from all the members, so I hope you will also feel like this is a safe place for you too.

It sounds like you are having a really tough time right now, and I agree - animals are great and (often, I think) better than humans, haha.

James

[quirkywords]

Girl kangaroo

what a past 5 years you have had and the last 18 months

I have not had a hard a time as you but in last 9 months my home and shop were destroyedby bush fires, loved ones heart attack, had to move from my community, good friend dying, stress on relationship etc, no income .

So I understand how hard it is to be resilient . You are still going after all that has happened and you still want to help animals.

It is sad people taking advantage of you when low. If my children hadn’t helped the a few companies would have taken advantage of me .

I am sorry you have had such a hard time.

keep posting if you want to.

quirky