[blparent] Happy Thanksgiving, eh?

Wed Dec 3 04:16:38 UTC 2008

Yah, that's probably a good thing to do, just ignore her and maybe she will 
see the errors of her ways. V
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Elizabeth Cooks" <elizabethcooks at comcast.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 10:57 PM
Subject: Re: [blparent] Happy Thanksgiving, eh?

> You know, these supposed annonymous tips aren't really all that annonymous
> if you really stop to think about it.  Jo Elizabeth, I really wouldn't 
> worry
> all that much about, since this "friend" seems to have called out of pure
> spite, and perhaps her own warped sense of justice.  Every time DCFS has
> ever been involved with my family, I've been able to figure out each time
> who it was that called.  I wouldn't confront her, since she will probably
> deny it anyway.  Don't even give her the satisfaction that you even care 
> or
> know anything.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Danie and Eden" <pumpkin4byron at cox.net>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 8:06 PM
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Happy Thanksgiving, eh?
>
>
>> Oh, this is indeed unpleasant. I am sorry someone decided to meddle like
>> that. Take care and I am praying for you. Pat Miss Ballad please?
>>
>>
>> God's Blessings,
>> Danie
>>
>> I AM:
>> http://momof3bbp.livejournal.com
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Jo Elizabeth Pinto" <jopinto at pcdesk.net>
>> To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2008 7:21 PM
>> Subject: [blparent] Happy Thanksgiving, eh?
>>
>>
>>> Hi.  To tell the truth, I had a fairly happy Thanksgiving, and I hope 
>>> you
>>> all did as well.  But I had a really unpleasant surprise yesterday
>>> afternoon.  Count me among the eighty percent of blind parents, I guess,
>>> who have had encounters with Child Protective Services.  I hope that was
>>> my first, last, and definitely only encounter.
>>>
>>> I was minding my own business, doing dishes in the kitchen.  Stephen was
>>> up for the weekend, and an older woman from my church had left her two
>>> grandchildren with me while she went to serve a Thanksgiving dinner at
>>> the local affordable housing complex.  Stephen and the two younger kids
>>> had just come in from outside.  Ballad, my guide dog, started barking, 
>>> so
>>> Gerald went to see who was at the door.  A few moments later, I came
>>> around the corner into my living room and met up with two city police
>>> officers and a social worker.
>>>
>>> It seems that an anonymous caller put in a complaint that I wasn't
>>> capable of taking care of my baby, along with some other allegations
>>> iincluding that I had a vicious dog who has bitten me before.  (Ballad 
>>> is
>>> a friendly, goofy black Labrador who would barely know how to bite
>>> anybody if she had to.)  The social worker talked to Gerald and me for a
>>> few minutes and then, since we didn't get upset and threaten her or
>>> anything crazy, I guess, she told the police officers they could leave.
>>> hung out for a little while longer, then told us that she was going to
>>> file a report saying that she saw nothing wrong, and the complaint was
>>> completely unfounded.  She said Child Protective Services had no problem
>>> whatsoever with blind parents or parents who had other disabilities, as
>>> long as the children were well cared for, and she could see that Sarah
>>> was fine.  One of the complaints had centered on the fact that Gerald is
>>> married to someone besides me, and the case worker said that wasn't the
>>> business of her agency.  She left soon after.
>>>
>>> The thing is, the case worker gave enough hints about exactly what was
>>> said that I know who filed the complaint, even if it was anonymous.  It
>>> was a friend of mmine, or rather an ex friend.  We haven't spoken for
>>> over a year because when I told her I was pregnant with Gerald's child,
>>> she went off about how selfish and stupid and immoral I was, and decided
>>> she didn't want to talk to me.  It hurt, but I let her go without much 
>>> of
>>> a fight after eighteen years of friendship because in my book, friends
>>> stick by each other and don't judge.  She sent a nasty little note at
>>> about the time the baby was born, which I ignored because I had bigger
>>> fish to fry at the time, like caring for an infant and getting my
>>> gallbladder removed. I don't know now if she called Child Protective
>>> Services because of a genuine concern for my baby--she sure didn't check
>>> with me at any point--or whether it was some kind of weird vindictive
>>> thing.  I'm just in shock.
>>>
>>> I guess I'm wondering if it's really going to end like the case worker
>>> says.  If she reports that the case has no validity, will it ever come
>>> back to bite us if something else is filed later?  Is my ex friend a
>>> threat in the future?  So far, my gut feeling is that I better not
>>> contact her about this.  I'm mostly too numb to have any emotions of
>>> anger or the like, but I'm guessing they'll come in time.  The two kids 
>>> I
>>> was babysitting didn't say anything abot what happened, though I did 
>>> tell
>>> their grandparents in case they mentioned it later.  But Stephen asked 
>>> me
>>> why there were police officers in the house.  I told him the lady had
>>> come to check on how the baby was getting cared for, and he asked again
>>> about the cops.  So I said some people got mad when a person came to
>>> check on their babies, and the lady brought the police so she could be
>>> sure she was safe.  He seemed to accept that.  But I feel violated and a
>>> little fearful about the future.  Actually, I feel sick.
>>>
>>> Jo Elizabeth
>>>
>>> It is easy--terribly easy--to shake a man's faith in himself. To take
>>> advantage of that to break a man's spirit is devil's work. Take care of
>>> what you are doing. Take care.--George Bernard Shaw in "Candide"
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>>
>>
>>
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