Just another love child

The Governator had a baby with a staffer more than 10 years ago. I know all the women with Kennedy genes eventually start to get that hard, mannish look, but Maria is still pretty hot. So what gives, Arnie? She was been a good political wife, she stuck with him through the allegations of misconduct with women and gave up her journalism career. Twenty-five years of marriage and four children. The news of the 10 year old must have been steroid that shrunk the bodybuilder's nuts. When the proof is a walking, breathing human being, I guess it's a bit harder to dismiss.

The CNN headline read, "Schwarzenegger acknowledges having child with staffer." Acknowledges. As in, he accepted or admitted the truth of fathering a child. I'm certainly glad it didn't take over ten years for my dad to acknowledge me. And frankly, admitting the truth of the child sounds a little like an admission of guilt in a criminal proceeding, as in only guilty because he was caught and no contest isn’t an option.

A friend of mine recently went through child support proceedings. My friend never asked for a dime after the daddy left the scene when the child was less than a year old. They lived together through the pregnancy, he took her to the hospital to have the child, they send out birth announcements, and they travelled to his mother’s for the baby’s first Christmas. Then one day, he walked into her job, told her he moved out, and that was that.

Flash forward more than 10 years. Due to a change of employment and change of her financial situation, my friend filed the paperwork to request support. Of course, he initially denied the paternity. The test proved he was the father. Then he said he must have slept with her, but didn’t remember her being pregnant. Yeah. So the judge had to have everything from the birth certificate to the birth announcement to the pictures of them all together at the first Christmas entered into evidence. Child support was ordered, as well as several years of back support.

The kicker to this situation was that his current wife, with whom he has children, was sitting through the various court proceedings. I wonder if the wife ever had a clue of a child in his past or if she was totally blind-sided. Being a fly on the window during that car ride home would have been interesting to say the least.
We’ve all kept secrets, but I can’t imagine denying a part of yourself for years. Whether you’re famous and powerful or an average schmuck, do you convince yourself that whatever money or distance you have put in place to dismiss that part of your life is enough and move on?

I just don’t get it. There was a point where Joey was my foster baby and I didn’t know if I would be able to keep her. She was considered evidence for a court case because she was seized from an alleged puppy mill. My original intention was to be a foster family for one of the dogs; if it went well, I thought I could continue to help out the local shelters as a foster parent. I had Joey for about 12 hours when I realized she wasn’t going anywhere. I fell head of heels in love with the little brown-headed nutcase of a puppy.

I can’t begin to tell you how many tears were shed watching the court case played out on the local news or reading emails from the shelter regarding the case. At one point, I thought she did have to go back to the breeder. I talked to friends and secured places where she could stay, my version of the Underground Railroad for dogs, if you will.

I’m not trying to say I understand a parent’s love for his or her child, but my love for the bitches is as close as I can get for now. The thought of giving her up nearly broke me. I am almost in tears thinking about it now. And that’s after the little whore chewed up everything from a Droid to a laptop chord. So if I can love a dog that much, what kind of a heartless bastard does it take to turn his back on his child?