This is new to me, this will be my first time to share my story. This is a story of my son, my one and only son, my firstborn. It is difficult to share such personal information with strangers. I do realize it is being shared from one moms heart to anther moms heart. We all love our babies no matter how old they are. So, my story begins in the Fall of 1986, the air was crisp and cool. My favorite time of the year! I was expecting my first child. The leaves were falling down as I sat and looked out my window. I knew in just a few days my world would be forever changed with the birth of my first child. I was missing my dad who I'd just lost suddenly and unexpectedly when I was 6 mos. pregnant. So, in the midst of my grief over loosing my dad I was eager and excited about this new phase of my life;"Motherhood". I'd always wanted to be a mom. On November 23rd 1986 my first baby was born. A beautiful healthy baby boy. I named him "James" after my dad. I knew early on he was very smart. So inquisitive. In school he excelled academically and in Sports. James graduated #28 in his class, Magna Cum Laude. I was very proud. He had some business classes in college. James just excelled, opened a successful business and won honors from the BBB. He was very driven and often very hard on himself. What none of us knew was that he had Bipolar 1. I knew that if he drank, his behavior would change dramatically. The alcohol was a trigger for manic episodes. I had never been around people that drank, I knew alcohol affected people differently. I just honestly had no idea of his condition. My son had trouble maintaining relationships. He has a beautiful daughter that is 10 years old. He never married her mom. They have maintained a good relationship and respect each other. I had often prayed he would meet the right person. One day during the Christmas holidays he brought home a beautiful girl for me to meet. I honestly thought she was great. She was a few years older, had a son from a previous marriage. My entire family loved her and welcomed her and her son. My sons business was doing well, his fiance got a promotion and moved about 2 hours away. My son was driving back and forth, he had tremendous pressure on him from the business and taking care of his family. He begin drinking more and his now ex-wife drank more than I realized. She hid her drinking well. He later told me how controlling and impossible she had become. I felt like things were unraveling. Just a feeling us moms get??? They had lost a baby and she was expecting again. My son was looking forward to the birth of his son. We were so excited. My son snapped under intense pressure and had a manic episode. He was originally charged with aggravated assault on a public servant. The videos clearly showed he didn't assault anyone. Of course we were devastated! Nothing made sense. I was in complete shock. In the beginning his wife seemed supportive, but then turned her back on him and us as well. My son was misdiagnosed at first and put on Prozac. He was desperate to be released in time for the birth of his son. He also thought he could reason with his wife and be able to see his child. James was coerced by the D.A. to take a deal. His lawyer wasn't present. The DA's office told him if he would plea guilty to the underlying offense he would get deferred adjudication and be released for his sons birth. He signed the deal, not knowing what he signed! When he went to report for probation for the first time, deputies were waiting for him. He was told he had violated his probation. We thought at that point the deferred adjudication would be revoked and her would be placed on regular probation. It was at that hearing when he and his lawyer saw what he signed. The deal stated that if he violated any of the terms and conditions, the penalty was 5 to 99 years!!! Also, waiving his rights to a trial by jury. We were again devastated! On May 15, 2016 we went to court, we were in court all day. The judge sentenced my son to 17 years! He has now served 2 years. We have already appealed once and it was denied. We expected that. One good thing all the lies and accusations his ex-wife brought out in court were thrown out by the panel of Judges that reviewed his case. SO, technically the only thing they have on my son is leaving the county. But, because he took that horrible deal!!!! We can appeal again, but we just feel like maybe there is a case out there similar to my sons case. I have never felt so helpless in my life. In the beginning I cried for days and days. I have to end this blog by telling you how much strength that God has given me to hold up and just have the courage to share this story. I left out lots of details, trying to condense this. Its a terrible thing when people that once claimed they loved you so much can be so hateful, But as my sister says; "the tide always turns". Do I think my son is perfect? No! But he didn't deserve this! The Judge, we later found out was up for re-election. After the appeal we found out that he had lost his seat. My son lost everything! There is not a day that goes by that he doesn't grieve over not getting to see his son. All he has is a picture. The mom let me see the baby twice. He will soon be 2 years old. I pray for my son everyday. I take his precious daughter once a month to see him because he's far from us. The title I chose for this post or blog was "Far From Over" because my son's story is not over...thanks for reading
