I am a grandma. I am 46 years old. I have a grandchild who is 7 years old now. My daughter is 26 years old now. I took care of the grandchild a lot before she was 5 1/2. I paid for her preschool. I bought clothes for her. When my daughter had her ex-boyfriend, they would abuse her. They would set her in a corner kneeling on pinto beans and rice and make her hold cans in the air with her hands. They would put her in a room with pitbull dogs and tell her not to move or the dogs would bite her.

When my granddaughter was 4 years old, I took her with me to get my mom and go to Sterling Drug. Her mom called and wanted her to go home. The girl begged me not to take her back. I took her to social services. My daughter and I went to court. We settled on custody every other weekend, but the judge never signed the paper. Now we cannot see the girl and cannot afford to go to court. Her new boyfriend is not as bad as the old one, but he is intimidating and won’t let me see her. The girl is left alone after school and eats supper at a neighbor’s house. It would seem to be in the court’s interest that the grandmother has a role in the child’s life.

The government says they care about our kids. I think they are screwed in the head. I believe that we should not need a court order to see our grandchildren. Everyone is scared of her boyfriend or they don’t want to get involved. My daughter says I can see her but then she won’t let me. Social services failed the girl, then the courts. If the social services cared, they would have taken her away. There was one worker who told me she was going to take my granddaughter away from her, and then my daughter moved to Austin. If the government cared about children, we grandparents would have our rights. We need to protect the little ones who cannot protect themselves.

 

Caren Turnmire

Albert Lea