u/redwood_rambler

Just finished the series for the second time, and for some reason this time around, I started to get annoyed by this. I still really enjoy the series but on this second rewatch, I can’t help but feel like this series was heavily self-aggrandizing in regards to Winters. I’ve read and seen a fair bit of media with him in real life, and I gotta say, he doesn’t really seem all that similar to the character portrayed in the series.

This is a pretty heavy post, but I’m having a hard time figuring out where to place this question, and this seems as good a place as any. I’m not a parent yet, but I will be in less than two months, and I need help. I’ll start at the beginning.

My wife was adopted at the age of 15. Her biological parents were addicts, and it was an abusive home from what I know. The in-laws I am talking about in this post are the couple that adopted her.

Four years ago, my father-in-law was accused by his granddaughter (8 years old at the time) of sexual abuse and molestation. As you can imagine this completely floored all of us. He was arrested, but never formally charged with anything as he denied it up and down. After this happened, my in-laws relocated 400 miles away, and their biological children completely cut ties with them. The mother and father of the child in question believed the daughter wholeheartedly at the time.

In the four years that have passed, I have had zero contact with either of them. My wife however, has gradually established a very tentative relationship with them, but they don’t see each other often, although they stay in pretty close communication via the phone. My wife does not fully believe that he did the things he was accused of. In the years that have passed since the accusation, the girl has been caught lying several times at school about sexual assault, and has admitted to it. Even the girls Mom is now skeptical. She still maintains that what happened with the father did indeed happen though.

Things have gone along in this weird limbo state for years, but my wife and I are expecting our first child in less than two months, and everything is coming to a head. My wife wants to have them at the baby shower because she loves them a lot and they are the only real family she’s ever had, but I just can’t see how that can happen. Even with the lingering doubt, we would be horrible people if we allowed him back into our lives, right? I couldn’t live with myself If something happened to our little girl. The other side of the coin is that if the grandfather had actually been falsely accused, the strongest familial relationship my wife has ever had has been destroyed for nothing.

The only way I can see a way back for them is if the girl admitted she had lied, but that very well may never happen. It also very well may be that she was assaulted and he is in fact the pedofile she says he is. He has to be kept away from our girl doesn’t he? My wife is distraught over it, but I think her judgment is clouded by the sadness she feels at losing them.

We’ve been working the NYC convention this weekend and I’ve been amazed by how slow it is. There’s a lot of big names in trad tattooing here and we were really stoked to go, but after the first two days, it’s probably been the slowest convention we’ve ever worked.

Is New York just too packed with talent to draw large crowds for a show?

I’m flying into DFW and my flight has been delayed significantly. I arrive at 10:12 and my connection boards at 10:13. I arrive at A8 and the connection leaves at A15. The agent swore up and down I would make this connection, but I’m pretty nervous. I’ve got a very important work function early tomorrow so missing the connection would be fairly disastrous from that standpoint. Can I make this?

My wife and I are expecting our first child in a few months. Ever since we found out the gender, I’ve been experiencing some feelings I hadn’t really anticipated. I’m overjoyed, of course, but I have some fear and anxiety.

I read a statistic the other day that said one in four girls will be sexually assaulted by the time they are 18. How do you reconcile yourself with this? I feel like every single woman in my life from my wife to my sister to my own Mom have abuse stories from when they were kids. I just can’t bear the thought of it. I know it’s some point you just have to let them live their lives, but I can already feel this hyper protective side of me coming on and she’s not even here yet. How did you find your balance with your girls? I don’t want to be that Dad, but I also want to keep my girl safe.