Posted by:
cludgie
(
)
Date: October 21, 2016 07:35AM
I've promised two people that I'd explain why cludgie is back. Not that the person behind the moniker hasn't been here a good part of the time "hiding" behind his real name (Mike T.). But to explain why cludgie is back, I'd have to explain why he left.
Well, 'bout 2 year ago, it were, cludgie wrote something that someone didn't like. Didn't like it at all, nossir. There was a fight, a big 'un. Words,... Well they was said, wudn't they? So cludgie says, he says, "Damn yer eyes! I don't have to take this no more!" An' he walked out the door. Others said, "An' don't come back!" Another shamed his moniker, too. That were the last straw.
But by and by cludgie missed the ex-Mormons he actually knowed, the ones who were his friends, people he'd met at confernces. So he begun a-postin' again. Since someone shamed his moniker, he came back as hisself, Mike T.
True story. (It's ironic that I used my own name, since that got me in trouble back in 2009 and 2010, when I was called into a deposition, and the whole 1.5 hour line of questioning was my sentiment about the LDS church as displayed on RfM, and how it was prejudicial to the defendant, a local Mormon leader. Then I had to testify in 2013, and the whole line of questioning was the same. Lesson: Be careful when you use your name on RfM. [Incidentally, the local Mormon leader was convicted of fraud and sent to federal prison, where he served one year of his sentence.])
The thing that really galvanized me to come back was this thing with my son with a brain tumor. As many things like this are, it has been devastating to us, his parents, and to his siblings and friends. Because the tumor eventually made him unable to work, and he was beginning to go under in NYC, an art collector friend started a crowd sourcing campaign to cover his costs, and several people from this RfM website jumped in, too, and donated a substantial amount. My son's GFM account went almost immediately to the top, and the money will be very helpful for him and for us, since I can catch a little bit of breath by not having to spend thousands per month to help keep him in food and shelter during his disability. Also, the money collected will help defray those costs not covered by insurance, which are many. (Meanwhile, an Italian art magazine has begun an initiative to raise even more money. It's specifically for art collectors, using works donated by son's many colleagues in the field:
https://www.beartonline.com/projects/1434/ARTISTS-FOR-IAN- )
A couple of you, if still out there, may piss and moan that I'm back under my old moniker, and may possibly have something snarky to say. But for me, the moniker is a link to my past here, a time when I was quite busy on RfM. I also owe RfM plenty--and therefore many of its participants--for helping me escape Mormonism. RfM not only gave me the courage to make the leap, but also the know-how. Armed with words learnt here on RfM, I was able to write up a good resignation later, and was out of the church in a mere fortnight with no friction from the local bishop. And since then, I have brought several people to the site, and helped one of them to write her resignation letter. (And here at work I have some 4 ex-Mormon co-workers, only one of which posted here. He has more or less quit posting, I think because he is just kind of over Mormonism and never bonded with anyone on RfM. Also, he has gotten a very good assignment that any of us would love to get, and his ex-Mormonism is rather OBE now.)
Saturday we fly to NYC, and Monday my son will have awake brain surgery. The doctor will attempt to remove the tumor, named Beasley, while sparing son's right side motor functions. But since Beasley is very large and somewhat invasive (although likely not cancerous at this stage), the doctor predicts some right side paralysis. Please keep your fingers crossed, which I figure is as good as any prayer. Or raise a glass to him, which is certainly better than any prayer. I will keep some of you posted by FB as it happens.
Best,
c