Court

After all that waiting . . . and a day away at the spa, I get another FYI email from my lawyer attaching my ex's lawyer's email that they are taking me to court. Obviously, my present lawyer did nothing to avert this. He had my proposal, but he was in court and didn't talk to me about it or send it in time. He didn't contact the other lawyer he was sending it to in order to alert him to the fact it was coming. This seems pure negligence to me and it will probably cost me $2000 or so. I can't afford this fight and yet I cannot escape it. This is the problem with our family law system in Ontario. If someone wanst a fight, you have to go to court. You can't avoid it.

When my ex first left, and violently so, I could not immediately respond to his litigation. I had to find a lawyer and sort out what to do about his behaviour. However, he brought me to court on a trumped up emergency motion, claiming that I was denying him access to and that his father was dying. Well, he never communicated this to me. I was forced to go to court alone and was completely dismissed. The judge (Lalonde) denied me time to find a lawyer and granted my ex immediate access. It was shocking.

Now, facing another round of litigation with an unresponsive lawyer, I am afraid of more of this systemic bias.

The hardest thing to do is to stay calm and not panic. Thankfully, my beloved says, "Whatever happens, you'll be fine. You have me and you have A."

True. In the midst of this, I have to focus on all the good in my life and allow the anger and conflict my ex is trying to thrust on me to pass over like a thundercloud. I hope someday he'll blow himself out. Until then, I just have to keep my focus on protecting my little girl from his wrath.