I am not well. Every day is a struggle to just live. Medical treatment is a full-time job at this point. I suffer from multiple serious conditions that all have the same result if not managed very carefully. I don’t have time for the fiction spread by those that just don’t have all the facts and I have been silent about this long enough. I'm frustrated that after attempting to forgive and trust this nightmare continues.
If you are connected to my oldest son via Facebook you may have seen a post to his wall regarding his current situation with a Gofundme link to raise money for a legal defense. What you may not realize is that the person sharing the link and those that may currently support him believe a false narrative in regards to his back story and legal standing. The person sharing the post has not actually interviewed the people affected by his actions or done any journalistic due diligence to verify what she has written or posted about him in the past.
While I generally I tend to support the ideals of the organization he has been working for and want to encourage their efforts, I am frustrated that he got there by painting a picture of half-truths and demonizing people that were victims to his crimes all while shifting blame for criminal and immoral behavior on his part to others. I don't think he belongs in an AZ jail or that he should undergo the kind of treatment he has received there in the past, but I do think he should accept responsibility for his very real actions that put him in this situation, to begin with. He has written and said many things in his legal filings, support of causes he believes in, and to people, he has befriended or worked within recent years that paint a very dishonest, disrespectful, and downright harmful narrative about his family and how he got where he is today.
He had supportive family and friends that gave up more than anyone can imagine to help him and he returned that support with theft, dishonesty, assault, and property destruction. I don’t believe in caging adolescents like animals and I think authorities that abuse prisoners are reprehensible. I am not questioning the validity of his claims regarding how he was treated there, but I am stating that his version of the events that got him there, or at least the version that those he has been working with seem to believe is false. If you choose to dig into any of this please look at the facts and not just the emotional appeals by people that came into his life in the last few years. Talk to me, talk to the extended family that almost sacrificed career and home over him, talk to the victims of the crimes he was initially charged with. Talk to the trail of people in Washington state that he harmed before ending up in Arizona, to begin with.
Yes, his situation is dire, yes he probably suffers from abuse at the hands of authorities, yes he has been through traumatic and stressful events. No, he was not ever abused by his family, he was not abandoned, and everybody tried everything they could to get him help before he did the things that lead him to be in Arizona and eventually jail.
He needs to be honest about everything he has done, with himself, and with those, he has become friends with in recent years. He needs to make a real effort to make things right with those that he hurt along the way. After he has decided to do these things he may be successful with some of his recent ventures and be able to build a good life making a positive impact on society. Until that happens nothing is going to change.
I have no intention of giving up on him, I have no intention of doing any of the things he has already falsely accused me and others of in the past, but I also do not intend to be a silent victim of a false narrative any longer. I have done and said enough real things in my life to cause people to dislike me or wish me ill. I don’t need falsehoods stacking up in addition to it. People that don’t actually know me, my family, or those who have been involved in raising and caring for him as a child should probably reserve judgment until they have gotten the whole picture. Go ahead, fight for his freedom, fight to remedy unjust laws and treatment of minors and young adults, but demand truth and acceptance of responsibility as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment