A Grandmother’s Letter: “I Never Thought This Could Happen”
Shared with permission
Dear Families vs DHR,
I sit here writing this in the middle of the night. I can’t sleep. I haven’t slept right since they took my grandbabies more than two hundred days ago.
I never imagined DHR operated like this. They came out of nowhere. No regard for truth. No regard for family. No regard for basic humanity.
In all my years of living, I never thought something like this could happen at all. That my grandchildren could be taken without cause. That my daughter could be treated like a criminal. That I, their grandmother, would be denied the right to raise them. Not to us. Not to my daughter. Not to me. And most importantly, not to my grandchildren.
They said things were bad at my daughter’s house. But they lied. And instead of asking questions or coming to me like they should, they came in with one agenda. I see that now. Remove the children and construct a storyline. I have a home. I have love. I have everything those babies need. I didn’t even hesitate. That’s what family does.
But DHR didn’t care. They didn’t check. They didn’t ask. They didn’t listen. They just took the children and placed them somewhere else. And now I sit here, restless, wondering how traumatizing this must be for them because even as an adult I can barely make sense of it myself.
And what hurts the most is wondering if they think I don’t care. If my grandbabies think I didn’t come for them.
Every time I call, I get the runaround. Every court date gets pushed. Every promise turns into another delay. And I’m just tired.
This system and its workers have just about weighed me down. How is it that my own blood grandbabies, who I have spent years helping to raise, guiding, mentoring, and showering with the love only a grandmother can give, have been taken and somehow my home has been bypassed?
They do not care. Their children are not affected. To them, it is just another day at the office. But this is unacceptable. These children deserve to be with me, with family, in the second place they have always called home. Not somewhere we do not know. Not with strangers trying to play a role I have already fulfilled by the grace of my Savior.
And to any grandparent working with your team or reading this right now, if you are doing everything in your power to bring your grandchildren back where they belong, I want you to know you are not alone. So many of us have been bypassed, overlooked, and led on. Even though the weight is heavy, I still believe there is light at the end of the tunnel. Our grandchildren need every fighter they can get standing in that gap.
Signed,
A Loving and Willing Grandmother
