OK, so I lied. This will NEVER be my last post. Not after today.
Thursday, DHS came to our home to do an initial report on an allegation made by our wonderful new friend, Jacque Karlson, concerning our drug use, drug dealing, and abuse of the baby. They left, after the interview, convinced that Jacque's vindictiveness was responsible for her filing false allegations. Friday, the next morning, they came to get Liz...While I wasn't there...then took her around town, doing various things, including a pediatric visit (which turned up nothing), her drug test (which will turn up nothing, same as the one the baby and mother did in the hospital a mere week and couple of days prior...your medicaid taxes at work), and then they took her to the hospital where the baby was born, in order to check her in to a room there. Upon checking the baby in, they were going to do some blood work, the results of which wouldn't show back up til the next morning, where Liz was led to believe she would be leaving the next morning when the results returned favorably. Naturally, she then asked (since they NEVER gave her indication, start to finish, what was going to happen during the course of the day, and she hadn't brought anything along except the things she needed for a short trip) if she could go home and get some extra things she'd need, then to check on our dog, who had now been home for four hours without being taken out for his duty. They evidently said nothing...or OK, because she did this. KEEP THIS IS MIND FOR LATER. She came right back and stayed the night with the baby.
The next morning, I asked her if she was coming home. She said they had come back OK on the blood work, but had informed her that DHS had ordered that the baby stay in the hospital til Monday, when DHS would come back and OK her departure.
So, this morning, after my wife spent every waking moment that she could with her now 12 day old baby, and after all the testing, finding NOTHING WRONG WITH HER WHATSOEVER. Not only did they say she was fine, they said she was gaining weight even. They then came and snatched her out of her room before she had time to think and bullied her into signing a paper, a release form, allowing DHS to ask that the baby be placed in foster care. The Worker, Emily Nieman, checked all the boxes for her, then told her that if she didn't sign it, that it would look bad when they went before a judge. Liz, bless her heart, never left that baby's side but three times from Friday morning until Monday morning. Once, as you know, was to check on the dog AND GET SOME THINGS FROM HOME. Another was to go to QT (our biggest convenience store chain), 3 blocks away. The next, the Ronald McDonald house (on the hospital grounds), to get some breakfast. What a terrible mother, huh?
When she arrived home, I asked her for a copy of the court papers. She didn't have a copy. She said she wanted a copy, but they never gave her one. We received them, 3 or so hours later...as the baby was being placed in foster care. Liz came home, and gave me this little travesty:
.tiff)
Remember, none of this was given Liz a chance to read, or to explain anything. "Just sign this".
Hmm....I smell a railroad.
Let's start at the top, shall we? Number One. The state, DHS, and the police believe that there's some imminent danger going on, some drugs, or drug sales (the abuse charge was evidently dismissed, due, kinda like this one, to a major lack of proof). Oh, but we're guilty here...until proven innocent; the American way. I went ahead and let Liz test. The baby, of course, is clean, right? Me? Oh, I will NOT be testing. I know how this works.
I will not be testing, because I know people who do drugs. Truth be known, I have an EXCELLENT circle of friends...the difference between me and the rest of America is, I don't judge them. And they don't mean less to me, if they do stuff I don't agree with. And I don't preach to them. If they want help, they'll get their help. But they're still my friends, and I don't let ANYBODY tell me who my friends can, or can't be, anymore than I imagine that Liz will let DHS tell her who she can...or can't be with. I know people from the skyscrapers to the gutters. I don't blame the rich for being rich, the poor for being poor, the rich for ripping people off, and the poor for having fun or killing their pain off any way they can.
Let 'em do a UA. I'll come up squeaky clean. Let 'em bring the dogs through my apartment. I dare them. Let them bring me some proof that brought them to my door, or a warrant to search my premises. They will NOT get a follicle of my hair, however. Why? Cause I know some of my friends do drugs. Doesn't mean they're dangerous. Doesn't mean I'm dangerous either. What it does mean, however, is, through no fault of my own, I may have very well just breezed through a room or two somewhere where maybe, just maybe, a little marijuana was being smoked. Where someone may have just put up a bowl of meth; and I came through and touched the same doorknob that was caked in meth residue. I don't know. What I do know, is they are my friends...and I might be dirty because of it, when it comes to hair. What do you think will happen then? You guessed it, Trilynn will be gone forever.
So. Let's have, instead, a court order. MAKE me give up some hair. I'm looking for a good lawyer now as we speak. UP YOURS DHS. Bring me the proof that brought you to my house, where I cooperated fully with you, and offered up my wife, then later my baby. And what was my repayment? You do what you do.
I just love it when people say to me "Oh, they're just doin' their job". I kinda laugh at that. DHS's job, of latter years, seems to be tearing up families, and circus acts...you know, jumpin' through hoops to get your life back the way it was before they knocked on your door, before we drove wedges in between each and every member of your family. Maybe, if you play nice, we MIGHT give you your kids back. F*** that. This is all I need in my life, right this minute. See, I know you don't think we really have a life, but we do. We had things we had to do this last weekend. Thanks for ruining all of that. We had a baby shower planned. Thanks for screwing that. What's more, I have a lot to do this week. Work for a customer of mine that threatens to take up the better part of my week. I donate plasma, probably won't have time for any of that...I'm sure my wife would love to get back to work, or, maybe get a different job, one she wouldn't have to be OK'd to work at. Oh NOOOOOO.....can't have THAT!! Why?
I believe we already have around 9 or ten things scheduled for the rest of the week. It would be different if we had a car...but we're taking the bus these days. Most of this stuff takes as much as 2-4 hours to get through, let alone get to and from. What am I talkin' about? Well, how about parenting classes. Visitations. On-going drug testing (which I'm truly sure we'll have to pay for), meetings...etc, etc., etc. All because of warrant less charges and drummed up add-ons, and a judge that doesn't ask for proof before issuing legal orders. Oh yeah, I almost forgot...ROLL-OVERS. Sheeple. Can't forget that. We let this monster get this big, you and me, America. We let Hitler take power and his Gestapo get too powerful. We gave 'em the power, just like we gave our government too much power...and now they can't be stopped, touched, or even ruffled. Well, that might just work for you America. Ain't workin' for me anymore. No how, no way.
I guess my point here is, there's no imminent danger here...except to DHS. Maybe to Ms. Emily's job. After I tell the world how you handle your business, on every web and blog site, tell my story to every news team from coast to coast? Emily? You might not have a job anymore. You snowballed, railroaded, and then systematically tore my family to pieces. This then, is my retaliation.
*whew*. Let's now move on to number 2, shall we?
#2. I don't believe that Liz was informed of any such petition, nor was she told exactly what this meant. Just that there's a check mark there (thank you Emily for all your help), and that Liz, whether she agreed to it or not, agreed to it by signing that she agreed to it.
#3. The Allegations supporting the removal are:
1.) Parent's inability to identify basic cares like feeding and changing. Ohhhh...you mean like feeding the baby every 3 1/2 hours and changing the diaper whenever it needs changed? C'mon kids. Liz might be a first time mother (something no one is talking about here), but I've raised kids. I know when they get hungry...I think they might cry a little...and a pacifier doesn't do the trick anymore. IDENTIFIED!! Oh, and that diaper feels a little full/wet...BINGO!! NEXT!!
2.) Lack of bond between mother/father and the child. No lack of bond between the mother and the child, I'm guessing. Who might they be talking about? Well, me of course. Through no fault of my own, this baby isn't MINE. I didn't talk about having one before-hand, nor did I have relations with the mother to have one. No, this baby is the product of one very dead Jerry Brueggeman, a man I've never met, but hate with all my soul. Not because he's a bad guy, but because he died, and left me with a title I had no option but to accept. Legal Father. Because he died, and I am the legal father, it can now be said that I have no connection with this baby, on day two of her being home. Because he was strangled to death by some ho in the Royal Motel, after not returning messages to Liz, after she wanted to tell him that he was now a daddy; I have to suffer for it. Because he was a womanizer and liked his women a little on the wild side, I can now be seen calling my daughter "it" in my blog, and this makes Liz an unfit mother, because I can't quite bond with someone else's baby after just two days. Let's not mention the fact though, that today, during our first supervised and very crowded visit, that I bawled like a little kid after holding Trilynn for only 30 seconds. Let's not talk about the fact that, after she started crying in the same meeting, that I reached for her and got her to quiet down. Nope. No bond there I'll tell ya.
NEXT!!
3.) Referring to Trilynn as "it"....see 2.), above.
4.) (This is the one I really love) Leaving Trilynn unaccompanied (with two DHS workers and a hospital full of nurses, by the way) to go home and check on dog.
Remember this one? The one I told you to remember? Note that there is NO MENTION of the fact that the primary reason for her wanting to go home was to pick up some extra things, since she would be staying all night (as well as the rest of the weekend and most of Monday morning). This is a reason to refer to her as an unfit mother? A reason for a court order to have the baby removed from her care? REALLY???? RAILROAD, RAILROAD!!
5.) (or 4, if you look closely...nice editing job there, Emily) Christopher's blog stating "I feel no connection to it whatsoever"...note again (per the post "Change In Service - Part I") that the prelude to that comment, nor the post part either were mentioned. Those words, before and after, would have not only made more sense concerning those words, but would have made those words sound tons better. See Also, 2.), above. Note too, that these words, like everything else said that sounded like no bond was there, was posted 2 days after the baby came home. I think it might just take a day or two more past 2 days for a guy who didn't father the baby to start bonding, huh?
6.) I think this is also pretty explanatory. Nothing was said of this either, I'm sure.
7.) This one just HAS to be my favorite of the bunch. Reasonable efforts that were made to prevent or eliminate the removal were as follows:.................................................................................nothing. Nothing was done here. Nothing was attempted, tried, or suggested. Nothing. Zero, zip, nada, fahgetaboutit. Why? Probably because no one had any intention of doing anything but removing the baby.
I could go on. But you can read the damn thing for yourself..move on to the order, and please, once again, note two things. This quote is my favorite, in conjunction with 7.) "The court FURTHER FINDS that reasonable efforts were made to prevent or eliminate the need for removal as itemized above".........OHCOMEON!! WHAT EFFORTS? and then...the part where the court order that the child be placed with the Department of Human Services, under the supervision of the Department of Human Services no less...pending further order of the court. Within 2 hours, the baby was presented to a foster family. Do they work for DHS? Oh, they get paid by the state. I don't think they work for, or are under the supervision of DHS, either one though. How do I know that? I've been in the foster care system before. I was a farm hand btwn. 10-12, remember? I know how this works.
Today we attended what we will always remember to be "Visitation the first". There must have been 20 people there, all of which, I'm sure, really gave a shit one about whether our family stayed together or not. I remember, most, wanting to reach for anything that I could throw at the originator of all this crap, EMILY, who, when asked about the dangers to the life and health of the child, prattled off her part of Drugs, dealing and using, as being the reason for it (and made a huge point of mentioning that I had not been to have myself hair follicle tested), oh, and the bonding thing...oh yeah, that's really putting the child in danger of her life and health, right?....unfreekin' believable. It wasn't ten minutes in that I realized that all 20 or so of these people were only there for one reason...to look like they were doing something to earn their respective paychecks (paid for by, yes, you got it, YOUR TAX DOLLARS). It took me only another five to realize that I wouldn't be a very willing participant in all this.
Please America, understand, re-read this snow job, and remember this. I talked to an awful lot of my friends about this before I decided this. I remember an awful lot of them going "WTF?" and "Are you serious??" and from a few also "I don't understand"...to which I hotly replied "That's funny...NEITHER DO I!" I thought about it and I analyzed it, and, more importantly, I hammered this all out, right here for all the world to see. My conclusion? Liz will be just fine. Trilynn, my legal daughter, slaving in the foster mines as we speak? It's all good...she'll make it too. Me? They don't want me in the picture, you know it, and so do I.
So what am I gonna do about it? Well...I plan to attend my scheduled meeting with just about the only person that attended today that I even slightly trust...Shelby the vet rep from PHC, who has been primarily on my side through all of this, and probably would have continued to be there for me as well, I truly believe. I plan to explain to her that I need to go away. Be by myself for a while. Get a job in another state (always has been easy for me to do, every other time that I left, I'm sure this time will be no different). I'm sure she'll understand, after I make myself clear to have her read this post, and after my rejection from legal aid to take my case in this matter. I am a third wheel here. I will only make things much worse than they could be, were I to stick around. Besides, I have much bigger fish to fry in our immediate future, remember America? Somebody's gotta do something about this f***ed up country of ours, and I can't do much from the bottom of the pit I've dug for myself...right? :D
