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Good morning AB, All

As always, thank you AB for reliably putting up this thread every Sunday including all holidays, God bless.

Thank you yon commenters for your input that gives me breadth to my opinions. Thank you Bray for you serious and thoughtful essays.

But of course this week I have some big drama but know now that I DO NOT WANT MORE DRAMA. Two items this week, one kind of bittersweet funny, one perfectly horrible.

Y’all might know about my Munchausen afflicted daughter, who puts ticks on herself that she may get Lyme disease, who got a restraining order against ME and her husband. Who lost her daughter’s custody, probably forever. Who ruthlessly gave away her daughter’s young pup but for a while kept the mama dog.

Daughter lives across the street from me for in a moment of insanity I actually bought her a house. No, I have not spoken to her in almost a year, as per her wishes.

Last Tuesday she went into the loony bin….AGAIN for the SEVENTH TIME IN ONE YEAR DOES NO ONE ELSE SEE THIS?

Which is nothing new, as y’all know. But this time, as I practically sob typing this, she left her dog alone and locked into the house. Nobody could get to the dog for as it turned out, my keys, which once worked, did NOT.

Yesterday, thank God, my son-in-law, who has custody of my granddaughter, came down from Baltimore and he had to break into the house to get to the dog. Dog had food and water but never mind, you don’t get to leave a dog alone in a locked house for weeks at a time…..NO.

Yes I was going to call animal control, in fact….this is a criminal charge and a felony. Also, in this county, that individual abusing a dog like this can never again own a dog. BY LAW. Which , of course, she should not.

Did y’all watch that CBS 48 hours episode on Munchausen by proxy? Soninlaw telling me that he watched it with granddaughter and she, 12 years old and lost her mother, began to sob. Because that could have been her.

That smug asshole of a woman that brutally poisoned that little boy to death with salt….she could have been my daughter with that arrogance. No, my daughter did not, technically, abuse her child but….well yeah she did. Someday we’ll have this story because while I already wrote one book about it, I’m about to write another. Kaitlyn will never be allowed to live with her mother again.

Anyway, we got the dog and I got to fix the door Mike had to break. This summer, somehow, some way I will sell that house and hope that I never see my daughter again. Sorry if this is painful to read but it’s an awful story.

Second drama-mama and also involves the firing of the choir director which I mentioned last week.

This is nothing big deal I suppose but our choir director, hand to God people, has Munchausen and I’ve suspected it for years. So guess where choir director went last week? INTO THE HOSPITAL! THREE TIMES!!!

Some boob in the choir takes up a petition to ask Father Thomas Flowers to please reconsider firing Todd. Do y’all remember Sister Pat? I know some of you do.

It was at a talent show put on, by of all people, the church Trustee. He asked Todd for help and Todd told him no cause Todd has had an attitude that nobody has liked, for the last twelve years. Kind of like a Munchusen (now called Factitious Disorder) now that I think of it.

Which was why I ended up being Sister Pat and assisting in the talent show and Todd not only refused to help, he told us in the choir to not let the talent show interfere with choir.

Understand here that this was for a money-raising event FOR THE CHURCH!

Father Tom has been at our church for almost a year now. He gave it his best with Todd, I know he did. And the problems with Todd spread across the church campus, from that trustee through to the co-workers of Todd’s in the church office.

So a choir member takes up this petition, handing it to us in the dark of the choir loft. I pretended to sign it but did not.

Now Todd goes into the hospital this past week for three times already and finally the church had to hire a separate organist for ALL of this weekend’s masses, not to mention cancelling choir singing.

But guess what? From his hospital bed Todd manages to email out a copy of that petition done by the choir member and it’s a PDF file. So everyone can see who signed it.

Which does NOT include me.

See what I’m saying here? Father Tom gave Todd until the end of June and I love Father Tom and he meant well, but when you fire people, you FIRE THEM IMMEDIATELY!

Now Todd has many weeks to torment this church with all this crap.

Thanks for indulging me and finally, this Wednesday, Father Tom is having a….eh…well Town Hall I guess you’d call it, about the music ministry. All the choir members who want to keep Todd plan to show up.

I do not plan to be there but hey, does anybody think I’ll stay home?

Anyway, again, thanks for indulging me, especially with the daughter story. If you didn’t watch that show on 48 hours about Munchusen try to find it. That horrible woman, you will hate her…..and let me whisper this gently in yon readers’ ears what with my choir director also a bit nuts….there’s probably people in your life with Munchausen and you don’t even know it. As I go through life I meet plenty of people like me, dealing with a nut job and not understanding it.

Going to church this morning with Diane Feinstein, who inexplicably signed the petition to keep Todd but she regrets it. Not singing in the choir cause did I mention? Choir director is in the hospital.

So what else is new?

I had the Mexicans out yesterday and got the yard tidied up.

I been working with this guy....I call him Beelow cause that’s what he says his name is. He drives around in a truck towing big carts and stuff like the landscapers do.

Don’t tell me I don’t know about illegal immigrants. Beelow is about....maybe thirty years old....tops. Maybe younger. He doesn’t speak English well but he reads it good and hey, I text message him and it works.

I admire Beelow. He works hard and does a wonderful job. No he’s not cheap but you got to bargain with him.

But here’s a guy, came to America (really he’s from Ecuador....they all are around here but we call them Mexicans) and is building a very good business for himself. When I first met him he only had a lawn mower. When he pulled in yesterday his truck and all the tow stuff filled my driveway!

He does not have a driver’s license....dear Lord...what a mess this country’s immigration system is. In Beelow I see it very clear.

I mention the Beelow story as it is quite germane to this election. What is Beelow’s story? Did he come here with his parents?

I, for one, would vote to keep Beelow here. In fact, I’d keep Beelow and send my daughter back to Ecuador.

I don’t have all the answers but I’ve been exposed to the problems quite well thank you.