We're not counting on the judge seeing through anything - she has one of the worst reputations in the state (her husband served federal time for fraud); she once gave custody to a suspected serial child molester, then stymied out-of-state law enforcement trying to help. The woman appointed as guardian ad litem in that case was the judge's own divorce attorney; the G-A-L's husband was assistant for former Georgia Attorney General Mike Bowers who resigned - ostensibly to run for governor - when his 10+ year affair with a woman he put on the payroll was uncovered. The kicker? Mike Bowers is my sister's former boss, who eventually saw to it that she was removed from the payroll when she became disabled. Nice guy. You think maybe the fix is in?
I fear my sister is unravelling, sending her husband lengthy emails pointing out his failures to follow court instructions (which have not yet been issued in print) - and shooting herself in the foot in the process. But she has no where else to direct the anger, fear for her children, frustration, etc. There was an article in the September issue of Oprah's "O" magazine, "She's Come Undone" which exactly describes her situation. Nobody believes this "caring" man is the control freak she says he is; they see her as unhinged (one of the techinques of an abuser is to tell the victim - and family, friends and neighbors - she's crazy.) People get tired of hearing her complaints, don't want to talk to her or listen, start avoiding her, complain she's being a drama queen, which makes her more desperate to be heard and believed. No bruises, no fractures, no torn clothes - if it can't be seen, it's hard to believe. Add to this the very real physical disabilities and her life is out of control, or so it seems to her.
She called me the other afternoon telling I had to talk her out of doing herself in because she thought she'd accidentally sent an email to her husband that had her private email password, phone numbers, strategy issues, etc. She is NOT computer savvy. I went into her email, checked the sent messages and could reassure her that she had NOT done so, just a short innocuous question about the kids' schedule. The one she shot off came to me. I told her to take a deep breath, check the header and think twice before ever hitting send, to anybody.
I don't think she can see beyond the day-to-day at this point. There is no light at the end of the tunnel (unless it's another train headed for her head on.) She really needs *something* good, however small, to give her some perspective.
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