From: Rev. Mary Magdalen

7/1/2008 1:05 PM

Hi you guys, I'm really sorry I haven't written before but I've just been so busy taking care of the baby and working. Here's an update that I wrote, you can feel free to send it out to anyone that's interested. Basically, I don't think I can make it to X-Day this year. I just really don't have the money to fly from Georgia, and I would have to bring the baby and find someone to watch [my son], as I've decided not to let him go back to New York until I'm convinced Jeff is on the right medication that it'll be safe for him.

Anyway, here's my update:

It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since I got my son back and returned home. I haven't written much because I've been basically walking on eggshells. It's hard to believe we're really home safe after dropping everything and moving to Upstate New York from January 2006 until August 2007. all our things were scattered, some in storage, some in NY, and some in England at the corporate apartment my husband's company put him up in during his assignment there. It took us until December 2007 to retrieve most of our stuff, though a lot of it is "lost in the flood," as we say it.

The custody battle truly was a flood of trauma and pain that we're all trying to get over. My son was hurt very badly by the whole experience of suddenly, without warning, being thrust into a new life with a new family, as well as the court interviews and the constant back-and-forth of feeling torn apart trying to not hurt either of his parents. There were also a number of bad things that happened to him during this time that I don't want to talk about.

Lately, though, as the months have settled into a steady rhythm, he seems much happier. He's looking forward to attending public school next fall and becoming a teenager in October. He's very happy to be "back to normal," as he said it.

We also have a new member of the family, little [Reverend Bonecracker], who was born in December 2007 and who is truly a bundle of joy. His little smiles have done a lot to help us all feel happier. Of course it's a lot of work taking care of the baby too, which is another reason I haven't written much.

Right now the court situation is tentatively stable. After Jeff was arrested for felony DUI, the court hammered out a new Order, combining parts of the original Order, Judge Adams' Order, the Appellate Court Order, and new decisions. Basically, the Order we're living under now keeps joint custody, but gives residential custody to me and does not set a mandatory visitation schedule, instructing Jeff and I to work out visitation ourselves after the completion of his debt to society. So far, I still haven't felt comfortable sending my son back for a visit.

Jeff got out of jail after only about a month, and I'm not sure exactly what happened, but he says his debt has been paid as "time served," and he wants to have a visit with the boy, but I just have too many concerns to agree right now. I'm hopeful that with the help of family counseling, we can work through all the pain and anger between us so I can feel safe sending my son to visit someday. I don't want to cause him any more alienation from either of his parents, but I have to make sure he'll be safe.

That's the court situation in a nutshell. Of course the legal bills are still sky high, and our money situation is actually pretty bleak. We make monthly payments on the legal bills of about $1,037 a month, and I only earn about $15,000 a year at my job, so it's pretty tight. My husband supports us, but he got offered the opportunity to quit his job as a corporate lackey and buy a nightclub, something he's always dreamed of doing. He went for it, and I'm totally behind him. He is truly finding his Slack with the club, which you can check out at http://www.myspace.com/aquacolumbus. Business has been kind of slow lately, as the local university has let out for summer, but we're hanging on.

Unfortunately, though, I don't have the money to go to X-Day. The baby is too young to be away from me, so it would be quite an undertaking to arrange plane tickets, and someone to help me take care of him, as well as my older son, camping supplies, etc. I would so much like to be there I can't tell you how badly I would like to go, but it's just not looking possible this year. Of course, "A SubGenius demands a miracle before anything else has been tried," so you never know, but I am not expecting to be able to go.

Even though I may not be able to be physically present at Brushwood this year, I will definitely be celebrating X-Day wherever I am. I will do everything in my power to throw a gut-blowout crazy pumpkin-type party here in Georgia! I will be thinking of you guys and all the help and love and support you've given me and my family during these terrible troubles. I can never thank you guys enough for the Slack waves you've beamed out at me that kept me going through the worst parts, and of course the money, without which we would never have gotten back home. You guys are truly superior mutants and yes, your kind SHALL triumph!

XOXOXO

Rev. Mary Magdalen