My Favorite Web sites
Losng Custody To An Abuser
Indio High School
AOL Hometown
Travis will be graduating this year and I will not be able to see him. I actually got to say hello to him at Christmas wehn I called the twins to wish them a happy holiday. They were at Carl's for two weeks. Travis ASKED to speak to me. I was so shocked I didn't say too much. I was afraid to say anythign that might upset him. I did sound happy and pleased, which was only part of how excited I felt. He also talked to his grandparents that day and made them so happy. He is planning to join the military. Maybe one day I will be able to see him once he has gotten away from his father's control. James 's behavior worsened . The stealing got out of hand and he was suspended from 8th grade for 3 days. He was also getting teased and getitng in fights. He stole my cell phone and lied about it. His ADHD and other problems were causing turmoil and his father, in a rare phone call, said the last two summers with him "were hell" and that it was a relief when he left. Somehow, God led me to a website about a special school that could deal with these behaviors and help him educationally. There was a long admissions process and initially, James was not accepted. I paid for a psych eval and that managed to get him into the school. It truly is a marvelous place and he lives with ten other boys in a lovely house on campus. He has a job on the campus, has responsiblities in the home and at school, and his grades have improved. He is becoming quite a young man! But when I called his father to tell him James had been accepted, Carl hit the roof. He denied I had ever told him about this school. He said he was going to sue for sole custody of the twins. I was upset and intears, begging him to let me tell him about this palce. James liked what he saw when we drove down for the interview. Actually his sister thought it was "cool" too. They have chapel there, it is not a boot camp, there are medical facilities on campus and part of the teaching is how to socialize. They have taught him to shake hands and look someone in the eye when he meets them. He is so proud of himself. Yet his father tried so hard to cause problems. Travis continues to do poorly in high school and has had several suspensions and truancy problems during the course of those four years. Problems have been ongoing. I wonder if I had been able to deal with him more , since Carl and Kelley blamed much of his behavior on others, telling me "Travis gets left holding the bag when other kids do things", if Travis would have gone the way of James. I hurt so much wondering if I could have helped Travis as I fought to help James, despite Carl's threats. *****************