My son, Joshua suddenly passed recently, and I am absolutely devastated. Unfortunately, I do not have the option to just take it all in and deal with my grief because I have been excluded from the entire process regarding his funeral and burial arrangements. I am here to ask for help so I can do what I know is right for my son and what I know he would want, as his mother.

 

My relationship with his father’s family has always been strained, to say the least. They have aggressively fought against me and used all their resources, money and power over the years to keep me and my son apart. Despite their best efforts, though, Joshua and I have always remained extremely close. I don’t know that his father’s family understands the depth of our relationship, because we did our best to keep it out of their view in order to protect Joshua from their slanderous speech regarding me, which hurt him deeply. Now, things have changed in the worst possible way, and I refuse to stay quiet.

 

One would assume that in such a horrible situation, his father’s family would, at the very least, inform me of his death, but they did not. I was contacted a week later by a third party, telling me that the family had no intention of contacting me and she did not want me to find out on Facebook. I couldn’t believe that anyone could be so cruel, but that was only the beginning. I also came to find out that this family was touting several disgusting lies, saying that I had given up my parental rights, that they had adopted him, and even that I was dead! Even at the end of my son’s life, they can only think of themselves and continue to do everything in their power to keep me away.

 

I finally spoke to the family briefly, only to be TOLD what was going to happen and that I had NO say in it. I was in complete shock and reeling from the news of my son’s death and had no time to process any of it, so I put up very little fight at the time. I spent the entire day bewildered, and only later was I able to process all that I had heard, and now I understand what I need to do. I need to fight for my son and for my rights as his mother. His grandparents purposely held the news of his death from me, so that they can claim to be his custodians and make all the decisions regarding how he is laid to rest. They plan on burying him in their family plot, next to his abusive father, with my name excluded. I know Joshua would not want this.

 

I have lived a humble life, heartbroken, and always in the shadow of this family. I have suffered, my family has suffered, and Joshua suffered. I need to hire an attorney to protect my rights as Joshua’s mother and start to make arrangements of my own to honor my son and his wishes, and give him a peaceful resolution.

 

Thank you for taking the time to hear my story. Any help is greatly appreciated.