How I Named the URL for "My Story"

I don't know if any of you noticed, but the URL for this blog is http://igotthelastlaugh.blospot.com. 
I GOT THE LAST LAUGH.

There's a story behind this, having to do with the ex-husband.  When we were going through the divorce process, we were discussing who would get what asset and debt wise, and I told him how it would be custody and visitation wise.  He was none too pleased with most everything, but especially the visitation and custody.  He finally got frustrated with the conversation and just looked at me, smiling, and said "that's okay, you can have EVERYTHING - the house, the cars, all our property, and you can have custody of Steven.  But I will have the last laugh."

I asked him what he meant by that, and he said "well, you can have it all.  And when we walk out of court, I will just look at you and smile, because I know I will get the last laugh.  I will put a hit out on you and your entire family - you will all be dead, and I will get Steven, and that is how I'll get the last laugh".

See, the ex was delusional enough to believe that he had friends in the mafia, and that he could take a hit out on me and the family.  He used to threaten to have my mother's husband beaten up by these so called mafia people, and would make other threats.  So for him to threaten to have us all knocked off is not a surprise.  I knew he was bullshitting, but of course I let the attorney know he had made yet another threat.

Fast forward to 2009 - the ex kept calling me, trying to tell me he'd flown to Florida on one of his mafia buddy's planes, and was basically harassing me.  I knew he was lying, one, because I knew his mafia connections weren't real, and 2, because his son CJ told me he was still there.  He was really aggravating me, pushing my buttons that he knew how to push so well, and I had to hang up on him before I completely lost my mind which would have caused me to start screaming at him on the phone.  Then he calls back, and calmly asks me if I remembered what the last laugh was.  I asked him if he was threatening me, and he said no, it wasn't a threat, it was a promise.  I told him if he was threatening to kill me and my family, we would see how the police liked that and he hung up on me. 

I called 911 and reported the threats he had made against me and my family.  It was around midnight, and I requested that they not come out with sirens blaring, but that I would like to file a report with an officer.  A very nice officer came out, I explained the history behind the "last laugh" comment, and the conversation that had just occurred, and that James was drunk.  I also let him know that he had kicked CJ out, and CJ was most likely walking towards my mother's house, as that would be the only place he had to go.  (that's where I was living at the time, too) 

The officer took my report and said that he would drive to James' apartment and have a few stern words with him.  He would look for CJ and would bring him to me if he found him.  The officer also instructed me to go to the courthouse on that following Monday to file for a restraining order, that I should have more than enough to get one, given our history and the current threat. 

CJ called me about an hour later to tell me that he had beaten the hell out of James in self defense, and James had gone to jail for domestic violence, assault/battery, and public drunk.  :-)

I went to court that Monday morning to get the restraining order, and the judge refused my request!!! He said that unless I had recorded the conversation, or someone else heard it, it was just my word against James', and that our past history didn't really matter*.  I proceeded to ask the judge where to go to obtain a concealed weapon permit, that if he was not going to protect me, I would have to protect myself.  (I had already researched where to go for this, but I asked the judge to make the point on official record that I took my ex's threat seriously even if he didn't)  He told me what building to go to and all the hoops to jump through, and that's where I went next.  I got my permit and bought my first gun, a 9mm that I learned to shoot quite well. 

Anyways, after how things have turned out between me and the ex, where he is now and where I am in my life, I do believe that I have had the last laugh.  And that's how I came to set my URL as such.

*It appears that in the law's eyes, if you do not make official police reports when domestic violence occurs, then judges won't do shit to help you when you finally do get the balls to stand up for yourself.  My advice - document everything, and file police reports! It's a shame really, as people who have never been abused don't understand the nerves and guts it takes to take a stand and file a report.  I'm sure they get tired of dealing with the people like me that take the abuse for years and years before they do something about it, but it's really not fair for us to be penalized even further because we were too afraid to do something sooner.  Just my 2 cents.