God, Sex and Rock' N Roll - Part Ii: Part Ii

By Alan Fisher

"Is there life after divorce, mid-life crisis and spiritual awakening? Yes, there's Part ll.
Alan Fisher candidly shares his personal adventures and loves told against the backdrop of the world-wide revolution in consciousness. Intimate, visionary and ultimately triumphant. Enjoy!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 21, 2012
• ISBN: 9781465311191

Alan Fisher

Alan Fisher lives in Baltimore. His wife appears on the cover of this book, so Alan wants to dispel the implication that she is the model for any of the characters. Not so. It’s just that Alan is a sentimentalist and thinks the photo, evocative for him, represents the spirit of youth and love at the center of the story. Apart from fiction, Alan has also written six guidebooks for hiking and bicycling near major cities. Readers of In Hearing of the Ocean will see that he has drawn on this background to give his main character a pleasant way to ignore what he should be doing. There the similarity ends.

Book preview

God

Sex

and

Rock ’n Roll

Part II

Alan Fisher

Copyright © 2012 by Alan Fisher.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2011961534

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4653-1118-4

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4653-1117-7

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4653-1119-1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To contact the author:

[e-mail]

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

105030

Contents

Chapter One  Starting Over

Chapter Two  A ‘Vacation’ to Peru

Chapter Three  The Bachelor Pad

Chapter Four  Marion

Chapter Five  Jen

Chapter Six  Creativity

Chapter Seven  One Particular Walk to the Other Side

Chapter Eight  Lisa

Epilogue

Appendix  The Author Recommends

Dedication:

To Life

Harris, Cameron and Marion

Acknowledgements:

To Devorah Garland, without whose

invaluable help this book would never

have been published.

And to my teachers—

Martin, Alan and Larry.

CHAPTER ONE

Starting Over

What would you do if you had to start over? For me, I was lost. After seventeen years of marriage to a wonderful woman, I was reluctantly on my own.

One day, you’re the head of a family of four, living in a beautiful house. Then you are living alone in a flat above a garage in the country. I know it’s difficult for the custodial parent as far as responsibilities and money issues are concerned, but at least she (it’s usually the mother) has the children and life goes on more or less as normal. For the noncustodial parent, life is very different.

He’s not there to read his kids a story or tuck them in at night. The kids are reluctant to see their father on the weekends he has them, because they want to see their friends. The kids blame themselves or one of the parents for breaking up the home and causing them shame or embarrassment. Their lives and routines have been turned upside down.

The noncustodial parent has to fend for himself and possibly do laundry at the Laundromat for the first time in his life. He hasn’t a clue. He has to send money to his ex-wife, and the kids will receive it through Mommy. Yet he has to somehow find enough money for his food and lodging and for the kids’ food and entertainment when they do come to visit.

I know this picture is one-sided and only half the story. The custodial parent has to somehow find the time and money to keep the home going, and she’s exhausted. Let’s face it, both parents feel overwhelmed, bitter, and sad. It’s not easy for either one of them, and there’s no simple solution. Divorce sucks for everyone involved.

So there I was, a single man, a single parent who missed his sons terribly. When I did have them, I sure appreciated them and gave them my full attention. They built a skateboard ramp and skateboarded down the long driveway where I lived. In winter, we played hockey on the river out back. We played football and basketball, or I’d take them skiing and later snowboarding. They loved sports. My bedroom had wall-to-wall mattresses on the floor, and they’d jump, fight, or do flips until bedtime. Then we’d snuggle and eventually fall asleep. I didn’t have a TV or computer back then.

I’d make them instant pancakes and grilled cheese sandwiches, the extent of my culinary skills. Mainly, we ate out. Today, both sons are excellent chefs and very self-sufficient. Go figure.

I’d try to get them to do their homework, but it was difficult to be the heavy when I only had them for such a short time on the weekend. The hardest part, of course, was taking them back to their ‘main’ home on Sunday evening. It all felt so unnatural, and I felt so empty after they left. There are too many children being raised this way. It’s sad.

For the first year, I’d commute to work and eat meals in restaurants. I didn’t date. My world was kids and work. What helped me make it through this time was looking out at the river from my living room window, walking in nature, and meditating. I had a strong faith in life and knew I wasn’t totally alone.

Still, it felt like my life was over. I didn’t know it was just the first half and that Part ll would bring many new loves and wonderful adventures. At the time, I couldn’t think about the future. I just felt sorry for myself and wanted to run away. I didn’t expect it to be as far as Peru.

CHAPTER TWO

A ‘Vacation’

to Peru

Sometime during that first year after my break-up, I wanted and needed a vacation. Since I couldn’t afford one, I spoke to my landlord who was vice-president of the Canadian Executive Services Overseas (CESO). I told him I wanted to go to someplace warm. He arranged for a one-week free trip to Peru for me to be a consultant about the Small Claims Court. Normally, consultants go for six months with complete training in the cultural differences, but because I was only going for a week, I didn’t get that training. I stupidly didn’t even look at a map. I swear, I thought Peru was off the coast of Florida, somewhere near Cuba.

When we got off the plane in Jamaica, I said goodbye to my fellow Canadians who were off for a wonderful time in the sun and rum. I then met a tall American in this dinky Jamaican airport who had just returned from Peru. He told me to turn around and go home. He warned me not to be on the street between 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. or I’d be shot. He said all the houses had steel barricades over the windows and armed guards were everywhere.

Terrified and crying like a baby, I phoned my landlord, begging him not to send me and that I didn’t want to go. He said