To the editor:
Why canít a man be there for his kids?
When a divorce happens the children should not be made to pay any price. You would think that both the man and the woman would put the children in every aspect first. Bitterness and vengefulness should not interfere with the love that each child has for their parents.
For seven years, one good friend of mine has gone through misery. When he and his wife broke up there was much bitterness. After several months, accusations were brought so that he could not have full visitation with his kids. No proof was shown to the courts. The judge just believed the woman. He was ordered supervised visitation with a guardian ad litem. I have seen his two kids (who just adore their dad) see less and less of their dad. Itís so sad. In todayís society dads are still made to be involved less in their childrenís lives. Why? Here is a father who desperately wants nothing more than to be there for his kids. Yet again, the mother brought more and more accusations (with no proof), and then got the courts to go even further and restrict the dadís visitation to visitation with childrenís safety center.ÝThe sad part is that one of the children has run away three times to get away from the mom. He went to see his dad on two occasions and one to a friendís house. That in itself tells you that if he was such a bad dad, why this child would run away from one parent to see his dad. The court then ordered no contact
The dad bought one of the children a cell phone. The child used his cell phone to call his dad. Mom notified the courts and the judge sentenced the dad with contempt and ordered him to jail for 90 days.
The other part in this story is the health of this dad. He is blind, had a kidney replaced twice, and is on dialysis three times a week, his heart functions using only 20 percent of its strength. Now, no one knows how long they are on this earth, but most assuredly he will be gone well before his time. He deserves to visit with his kids.
Because of the severity of the medical issues, he was only in jail for a very short time. Our county sheriff was very concerned that his health issues could not be property supervised.The man got sick, and after some dialogue between several doctors, sheriff and others, he was allowed to spend the rest of his time at home.
So here he sits at home still not allowed to see or talk to his children. No accusations have ever been proven in the last seven years, except for verbal contact with the cell phone to his son. The judge still refuses to talk to the children. The children are 14 and 12.
In the last decade or so, more and more fathers choose not to be involved in their childrenís lives. The moral implications as well as emotional stability have declined with the lack of a father in a childís life. Here is a father that is willing to brave everything, jail, and even a quicker death just to be in his childrenís lives. When will our judges realize that fathers are just as important for our young childrenís emotional well being?
Theresa Furman
North Branch

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