Cast of Characters

Bathwater- is a 59-year-old divorced father of three boys who started blogging 17 years ago. The blog chronicles his post-divorce life as he deals with depression, relationships, and life. He lives outside of Detroit and works in the auto industry.

Max- is my youngest son. He is 25 and in college. He is still finding himself. Typical for his age.

The Twins-  Twin A (Alex) and Twin B (Andrew) are my identical 30-year-old boys. The twins had many medical problems when they were born, but they are mostly fine. Twin A takes on the middle child rule though he is the oldest by five minutes, while Twin B is often seen as the oldest child because he is a little bigger and is living with me. The twins have mentally challenged but live together on their own.

Billie is my ex-girlfriend. When we first met, she was a dancer at a strip club. We dated for over 8 years and lived together for 5. During this time, she was addicted to heroin and fentanyl for eleven years. She is 31 and clean now. She is an electrical apprentice and lives with a new boyfriend and a new baby girl.

Tinkerbell- is my pseudo-prodigal adopted daughter/ friend of 15 years. She is 35 and a former stripper who is now a manager at a facility that works with disabled adults. She lives with her boyfriend, Tech, and T-Rex. We stopped speaking about a year ago. I suspect it is due to her relationship.

T-Rex- Tinkerbell's 17-year-old son. He was often my partner in crime when I watched him when he was younger.

Alexis and Sam- Are platonic divorced female friends. Alexis and Sam are hair-dressers. They are in their early 50s and are pretty much my support group.

Jay-  My closest male friend is in his early 50's. He lives with his wife of two years in/a long-term relationship. He deals with his own issues of anxiety and depression and mostly keeps to himself.

Firefly-  Is a 24-year-old girl I met on the sugar dating site Seeking Arrangements. We went from her coming over and having sex with me in exchange for money to moving in while she got her life together. That hasn't occurred, but she has moved out. She is addicted to opioids and reminds me of Billie at the same age. Firefly is currently clean from drugs and has a baby girl.

Ava is a 30-year-old girl I met on the dating site Seeking Arrangements. She and I went on a few road trips and saw each other for about a year and four months. Ava is a bit of a covert narcissist, but it never interfered with our arrangement. Six months into the relationship, she acquired a boyfriend but continued seeing me behind his back. The double life got too much for her in the end. She either got caught or decided it wasn't worth it anymore and ghosted me without a reason.