A GRANDFATHER'S STORY

Editors Note: Some names have not been used to protect confidentiality.

Background:
My grandson is 12 years old and came to live with his aunt, my daughter, in January of this year. When he came to live with them, he had not been to school since November. His mother had signed him over to my daughter and son-in-law before she left for another state with her other children.

Intensively over the last year they have been trying to gain custody of our grandson. My daughter and son-in-law had retained an attorney and a file had been actively added to about his mother and her activities. But early on, the attorney said that their chances of winning were not very good, that the courts generally sided with the mother.

Prior to living with his aunt and uncle, he has bounced around with his mother living here much of the time or in a couple other states. His mother has two other children by a different man. My son, unfortunately is in prison for a second time. He is in favor of my grandson living with his aunt and uncle.

My grandson's mother is bi-polar, needs to be on medication, but is not much of the time. She, like my son, has used drugs in the past, writes bad checks, etc. but always seems to stay one step away from going to jail. Everytime something gets hard, she flees the area. Her relatives have all kicked her out of their homes several times. Hence, my grandson's life has been up and down and very unstable.

Most of his living conditions before coming to live with my daughter has been deplorable, sleeping on the floor or a couch, not going to school for months at a time, not getting proper medical care or food, and putting up with his mother's boyfriends.

What amazes us all is the fact that through all of this in his life he has remained a very bright, talented, caring and special boy.

His mother has called and plans to pick him up in June when school is out. With that, if you are not in tears, please read on.

My daughter and son-in-law arranged for counseling for my grandson while he was living with them. During one of the sessions after he found out his mother would be returning for him after school was over for the year, the counselor asked him how he felt about it. He said he did not want to go. She pressed him to say why and he started crying.

He said he knows he won't have a house and his own room or bed, that he'll be living in an apartment with a bunch of people or living with other people that he doesn't even know. He said his mom won't have a boyfriend or she might (I didn't understand that totally). He kind of said that there wouldn't be a man around. He said he won't have his own stuff. He said his mom won't put his sister on medication for ADHD and she's wild and he hates dealing with that. His mom borrows money from him and never pays him back. He even said, "My mom won't take me to the dentist or doctor if I need to go. Or school".

Needless to say everyone in the room was crying too.

Present:
Jill, thanks to you, my daughter and son-in-law contacted the numbers and names you gave me and contacted a Family Court certified Juvenile Attorney. The ball started rolling in the right direction. They retained him, dumped the other attorney who was not a family court attorney, obtained an order of custody and restraining order, and had Child Protective Services (CPS) get involved. After several court dates and a few months later, they now have permanent custody of my grandson.

He now has a stable loving environment in which he can grow and flourish. He had all A's on his last report card.

So there really are angels here on earth... And you Jill are one of them. Thank you so much.