I have a friend who only a few of my Facebook friends know. Her name is Theressi, and she is one of the kindest, loving people I have ever known. Theressi is a single mom with a 5-year-old little girl and an 11-month-old little boy (both extremely adorable kids). Her husband died in a car accident when she was pregnant with her little boy, and so she is now raising her children on her own....and doing a great job of it.
Theressi, being the kind person she is, has kept the children in contact with her husband's family, even though they are usually unkind [understatement] to her at every opportunity. The frequently tell her that it's her fault that her husband died, as he was on his way home from a second job he had taken so that she could go back to school. Of course, that in no way makes his death her fault, but his family delights in blaming her.
Nevertheless, about a month ago, Theressi's mother- and father-in-law flew to visit the kids (from their home 2 states away). To help them save money on lodging, Theressi offered the in-laws her bedroom for the week-long visit and slept on the floor in her daughter's bedroom. The first three days went well, or as well as they could with snakes under your roof.
The Friday night during the visit, Theressi's mother-in-law was helping get the kids bathed and ready for bed. While grandma was getting the daughter into her pajamas, Theressi was dressing her son. While doing so, she (as most parents do, myself included) was kissing the baby all over and making him laugh.....there's nothing so sweet as a clean baby. Her mother-in-law told her to "quit getting the baby all worked up before bed." To avoid an argument, Theressi quickly finished dressing the baby and put him to bed. Then she and her daughter went to bed in the daughter's room, and the in-laws in the master bedroom.
The next day, Saturday, Theressi had to work. The in-laws asked if they could spend the day with the kids instead of sending them off to daycare. Of course, she agreed, and kissed her kids goodbye and told them to be good for Grandma & Grandpa.
When Theressi got home from work, the house was empty, so she decided to get a little laundry stared before the kids came home. When she went upstairs to get the kids' laundry, she discovered that all her childrens' clothes and their favorite toys were GONE. She immediately called the police.
When the officer came to her house they took a report and called the local airport, who told them that the grandparents and the children had flown out that morning to the grandparent's home town. Her local police started to work immediately, doing whatever it is that police do in family kidnapping situations. It was soon learned that the police and Children's Services in the grandparent's city had had a report filed saying that they had taken the children away from a mother who sexually molested them!
It turned out that Theressi's grandmother had reported her to be a child molester because she was kissing her clean baby after his bath!
The children were removed from the grandparent's home in their city and sent into foster care in their own home city while officials went through all the necessary investigations. In the end, the truth came out and the children were promptly returned home to their mother, where they belonged.
Unfortunately, most of the charges have been dropped against the in-laws have been dropped. They'll likely have to, at most, pay a fine for custodial interference. And there's a court order in place forbidding them from being alone with the children for any reason. This is NOT enough punishment!
True, the children were not physically injured.....
BUT....
They were taken away from their mother WITHOUT warning. The daughter, who lost her father less than 2 years ago, is now afraid to go outside her house, afraid that someone will take her away again! And now, she has had to make the decision to cut the in-laws out of her life completely....and one day she'll have to explain to her daughter WHY her grandparents aren't around anymore (luckily her son probably won't remember them).
Please keep my friend and her children in your thoughts as she works to fix the damage done to her precious family.
This is more kinds of wrong than I can even imagine.
