~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~𝗡𝗢 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗝𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗬~𝗠𝗬 𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗕𝗟𝗬 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥

                                            

It was January 31, 2012, the night Chuck Mattingly was holding a meet & greet at Cobbleheads to ignite his campaign for Cameron County Judge.  Entering from the back entrance of the deck, I never made it inside the restaurant area as I ran into Jerry McHale sitting at one of the outdoor tables.  And yes, he bought me a beer.

After a few minutes, Mattingly came outside on the deck, having finished his speech to prospective voters inside the restaurant.  Embarrassed that I'd missed his speech, I offered to videotape Mattingly and publish it on the blog if he was willing to repeat his remarks to the group at our table.  As you might expect, he declined. 

Years later, Jerry bought me another beer downtown, although I don't remember where.   If he bought me a third, I don't recall it, but, in any event, his generosity did not go unnoticed.

Those two beers will be the last Jerry will put on his tab for my consumption as he's decidedly miffed, pissed and indignant that I posted his sister's claim that he sexually molested her at age 15.  While Jerry takes solace that she didn't use the word "rape," Anne McHale Holden described breast fondling, finger penetration and ejaculation on her stomach.  How those actions would be categorized legally, I'll leave to our local blogger with the considerable legal background.

Yes, I did sit on Ms Holden's story for a couple years, but I eventually released it, hoping to give her some closure.  I've seen firsthand, with my own sister, fifteen months my junior, being sexually molested by my fundamental religionist/sexual predator father at age 8, how that can impact a young girl as well as a family.

I've utmost respect for my sister, seeing her incredible strength in moving on with her life, raising a family, patiently accommodating a couple husbands who were not her intellectual match, never seeming embittered.

A few years ago, in a family outing on Boca Chica Beach, she shocked me by saying "you know I forgave dad."

That stunned me, but I kept listening.

"I had to, Jim, or it would have destroyed me."