Two years. Two lives. Multiple lifetimes of abuse. DEPARTURE is the true story of a modern, technology-driven relationship between two unconventional people across the miles. One, a physically disabled older man, the other a socially disabled younger woman, both reclusive misanthropists with lofty dreams of finding happiness within the darkness of their individual lives. At first a fairy tale long distance May-December romance, their relationship is soon marred by the young woman's increasing mental and emotional instability, leading to re-open the wounds that shattered the man's life many years prior. Broken by her incessant verbal and emotional abuse, he is brought to despair and in the end is driven to take drastic actions in a last-ditch effort to save both souls from inevitable ruin. His efforts to overcome the results of her abuse proved to be an adventure that took him 6,000 miles away to a place he'd dreamt of going to for 25 years-a place where legends tell their centuries-old tales of life, madness, and death through elegant-and sometimes not-so-elegant-decay. From the Preface: If you've abused someone you love and who loves you-whether deliberately or due to a manageable mental illness-then perhaps reading this will inspire you to get help. If you've ever loved an abuser and/or someone incapable of truly loving another, perhaps you'll be able to relate to the pain and unfairness. With such deep emotions in the complexity of the human brain, love can encapsulate the best and the worst of what we are capable.