Malachi 4: 5 "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the father to their children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the earth with a curse"

Once in Germany Craig had to locate where his ex-wife and children were. He knew which town she would go to but where? He tried to get help through the legal branches, but no help was found there. He walked the streets till his legs could not move. He sat on park benches reading his Bible and praying. One night while he was praying a strange lightening storm appeared outside. He felt as if God would transform his children to his room. After two weeks of searching he was finally able to locate a phone number of a relative where they were staying. Craig was absolutely devastated when his children told him that they did not want to go back with him. Years later he discovered that they never knew that he was in Germany, in the same town, when he had called. Even with his legal documents he would not take the children back with him if they did not want to go. So he returned home alone.

The kids and I picked him up at the airport, and I knew immediately that he had changed. There was no joy or laughter, no hope no desire to win at anything. He had been totally stripped and broken. An unrepairable hole in his very inner being.

My children and I moved in with him at his 4 bedroom home. He said it was just too empty there by himself. When Craig quit his job at the theater it also meant that I quit my part time job there as his assistant. I started working with him in his new company with no compensation. I was sure that his company would take off, and I would eventually earn more than enough to support my children. I was still living in one bedroom at my mother's with all 5 of my children. So when Craig invited us to move into his home with him, it sounded like a wonderful offer.

Many years later I thought "THAT'S ME", when I watched the scene in "Jerry McGuire" when he was making his speech about leaving his job, and asked who wants to go with me... and the girl who was infatuated with Jerry and his vision, stood up and said "I will". Yet how could she? She had a child to support and was living with her sister. Tears stream down my face every time I watch it because I see us in that movie.

Craig could no longer motivate himself to work, and most days he never left his room. He had gone into a deep depression. He should have been placed in to a mental hospital, but he had no money or insurance. I thought I could help and take care of him. But all I was successful in doing was feeding him at least once a day. And that was usually a chore just to get him up to come and eat. Ever now and then one of my children would make him smile or Lew, my oldest son, would get him to go play tennis. But most of the time he just mooped around, and stayed in bed. He tried to read but his mind would just whirl and he could not focus. He made himself read at least one scripture from the Bible each day, and God used the scripture to get him through the day.

Whatever chance he once had for a successful business was gone. If our love ever had a chance to grow into a beautiful love relationship - that dream was shattered. I tried to hold on to hope that he would get better. But on days that he seemed to be better and not be so depressed he would turn to anger, and I seemed to be his only available target. Shortly after moving in he shouted that he wanted me out of his life. I was in the process of moving the last of my furniture out of my duplex. I was tired of trying to love a man that was unable to love anyone, So I said "OK" and left to finish packing the rest of my things. I got a U-Haul truck and went to the duplex and proceeded to load it. Before I was finished Craig came driving up in his burgandy Catalac. He helped me finish, followed me to the storage and we unloaded everything without either of us speaking. Just as we were almost through he cornered me in that little storage unit, and said he was sorry, and that I was the only reason he came back to Austin. I was all he had and of course my kids. Then he kissed me with intense passion and desperation of needing to be loved. I clung to the memory of that moment and those loving words for years and years, because it was the only time I could remember feeling any real love. He was so empty inside, so hurt, so unreachable. Only a very desperate woman would have stayed in a relationship so empty. We never had a chance to let love grow. My kids needed a place to live and he needed someone to take care of him. But mostly I loved him and wanted so desperately for him to really love me too.

The Courts were still trying to resolve the Custody Battle. Months later Craig received a letter written in German sent by regular mail. We finally had it translated, and it was notice that the German courts gave Custody of the children to his ex-wife. Even though the Courts in the United States had the case before them, they do not honor our Courts, and make their own rulings. There is a universal code for all countries to follow, however Germany is one of the few countries who will not follow this agreement. However our country has to follow the universal code to Germany. In Craig's case the court had to notify her through certified mail, and it had to be written in German, even though she was well educated in English. However the German courts did not have to send anything in our language or have any notice given before to him before acourt date. Her attorney in our courts told the judge that the temporary custody he granted was not valid since it was not translated into German. The Judge was angry, and told his Attorney that he would postpone and give a new trial date, so that Craig's Attorney could further investigate this matter. We spent many days and hours in the University Library to research other cases, but the end result was that he had no more money to continue the fight to win his children back, and she received legal custody.