Why I call my place the Dog House.

Ever since I can remember I had a knack of saying the wrong thing that caused me to suffer in some way. It was called Ron's hoof in mouth disease. I was only trying to help family and friends and always said the wrong thing or stated it the wrong way. Example: I Love You. Years ago this was ok to say to family. If said to female friends it was ok..but you did not dare say I Love You to male friends unless you wanted your lights punched out, or people thinking you had a limp wrist.

I was the kid that was always picked on in school by the bullies. I didn't have many friends and was a bit of a nerd ( WAS ?, I STILL AM ). I took a lot of ridicule for the way I looked and acted, so I kept myself to a small group. I learned to use humor to hide my pain and used the ridicule as part of my humor. I learned that if I used myself as the brunt of a joke the bullies would laugh and leave me alone. As I got older I learned to joke even more and sometimes I joked too much and didn't realize that I was hurting others with my jokes. So began my life of being in the Dog House.

Once I learned that I was hurting peoples feelings I was filled with remorse and tried harder to take the brunt of the joke to the point that I had no self esteem. This carried on into my adulthood and caused problems in My two marriages. I became depressed and didn't know anything of depression. It wasn't until nine years into my second marriage that I found out that I was depressed. My depression effected many people, my wife to whom I've been married to for 25 1/2 years..my kids ..and friends. Once I got professional help, I learned many of my feelings were way off base. It took several years to learn that it was ok to feel the way I did. I learned to control my depression instead of it controlling me.

I still have hoof in mouth disease, but it is at my choice. I do things to aggravate my wife but she knows that I do it in fun and not to hurt. She has learned with out saying anything how I feel physically and emotionally. She knows that I LOVE HER and do not have a limp wrist. She knows that I would not hurt her intentionally for any reason. She knows that I respect her and cherish her.

I still call my place the Dog House and that I'm comfortable with it. Right now we have 4 adult dogs and 8 puppies. Nine dog's too many. Puppies and mother are due to leave soon. I still joke about my Dog House but I say that if I'm going to live in the Dog House I'm going to be comfortable, air conditioning, refrigerator, TV, etc.

I still joke only thing is I have learned to think first. Is it going to hurt someone or is it fun. The last thing I want to ever do is upset someone with my humor.