One kid- now a 26 yr old with a 2 yr old himself asked me last night (he messaged me, saying I bet you don't remember me-- I did) "why did you leave us? you just disappeared at the end of that year and never came back... we missed you and I always wondered"
Seriously.
I left that job that I LOVED (and was offered it back 3 yrs ago and xAH refused to let me move back to MA and take the girls with me and we were not divorced yet and I should have just done so and said to hell with him) to marry my sorry AH and be MISERABLE in NH. Utterly miserable since I left that job. And I bailed on kids who cared about me and knew I cared about them and at least one of them has wondered for 13 yrs why I left...
It broke my heart to hear that and I deep down hoped that maybe this job I was waiting on hearing on would be my chance to redeem myself and go back to doing what I loved...
Sigh. Obviously not.