After 4 years in the US Navy I enrolled at a community college to take advantage of the VA GI Bill benefits. I was behind in math and needed a few prerequisite classes to take the Calculus I, II, III sequence. There was a town 10 miles away that was opening a new community college so I enrolled there too. I took 15-18 units at each place and got two semesters work done in one. I was lucky that it was spring semester with the summer break following as I was burnt out with the double homework.
During the summer I worked in the shipyards as a journeyman outside machinist and worked overtime everyday of the summer break from school. I think we did 12 hours daily and the overtime pay helped with school expenses. Every time I was back to work on a ship my leg muscles would ache the first few weeks from going up and down the steep ladders on the ships.
I had joint custody and visitation rights so I had my daughter on Saturday for all day visits. This didn't last long though as exwife moved 600 miles away right after I started school. I didn't see my daughter for a year and a half and then I got adoption papers from exwife for me to give up my rights to see her. I declined so next came a 'forced adoption' court case. They made up a lot of issues but mostly said I was alcoholic from one time on a visitation day was at my ships party and I had a girlfriend helper and driver. I played beer baseball where you have to drink before running. The judge saw through their deceit and they were admonished for trying to force loss of parental rights, my child support amount was cut in half because was to high and especially for a college student. My pro bono lawyer used my college grades as proof I was not an alcoholic. I had to re-connect with my daughter and have a visitation weekend once a month for a year and I did all 12. They were fun weekend trips for me and my girlfriend.
My daughter has a great life now with a high earning husband, her own company and two kids. She is estranged from my exwife and resents her and her stepdad for her teenage years. The stepdad didn't work for 30 years claimed 'bad back' so my exwife supported the family. My daughter had to work for food money all through her high school years. They lived in an affluent neighborhood cause they bought a high cost home with inheritance from Navy Captain but had 'low income' for the area so my daughter was miserable as a 'pauper in 90210'. I just learned all this from my daughter 5 years ago. I raised the child support I sent back to the original amount after I was working and sent that until she was 18. I would have helped her in high school if she had told me.
