On a personal note

As I sit here contemplating yet another court date tomorrow I begin to feel numb.
It is almost impossible to explain how an event like this impacts on one’s life. I often wonder when will this end. Going through this ordeal over and over for nearly three years has made our family stronger, has opened my eyes up to how many true and caring friends I have. I have seen how easy it can be for the Government to ruin a persons reputation and life and how easy it is to be framed by a powerful Government.

There is nothing more heart breaking than to be a parent and have your children have to explain to their teachers, classmates and church friends why their parents were arrested.
Then to have this compounded by witnesses that the Government has made deals with lie and tell people our kids were involved with drugs or have police officers take their personal ipods and computers from their rooms during searches, (never to get them back) and have police officer Jay Bialek stick a video camera in my sons face to intimidate him while video taping the search. As a parent you feel like "I am an adult, I can take this, but leave my kids alone".

It has gave me and my husband the chance to illustrate to our children how to face prejudice in the most adverse events without bitterness and anger. Admittedly, it is a daily struggle to put on a happy face and then reassure them that all be well in the end. It definitely hurts a parent to see our children worrying and hurting.

This personal trauma has stressed my emotions and finances to the limits. Three years is a long time to worry about whether you will be going to jail on a false charge. It is horrific to have ones reputation and Character continuously attacked through the Governments smear campain spreading erroneous information to the media. It is also a long time to be worrying about what is going to happen to your children if you get convicted. To know that everything you have worked for and struggled to get your entire life could be taken away by corrupt officials looking to make a quota for the month.

The humiliation and dread that one experiences when being arrested, handcuffed, shackeled and placed into a cell is devastating, especially, when one has spent the past 15 years working with children and being involved in a church and in the public eye where people look up to you as a business owner and leader in the community. I would not wish this experience on anyone.