(USBB) IN DALLAS PROBATE COURT, MY OWN PARENTS FILED TO HAVE ME DECLARED “MENTALLY UNFIT,” PRESENTING ME AS A BROKE, ISOLATED 34-YEAR-OLD WOMAN IN A 450-SQ-FT STUDIO WITH NO HUSBAND, NO “REAL” LIFE, AND THEIR $400-AN-HOUR LAWYER SAT THERE SMILING LIKE MY FUTURE WAS ALREADY SIGNED AWAY… BUT THEN THE COURT-APPOINTED INVESTIGATOR DROPPED ONE LINE THAT MADE THE JUDGE GO STILL—BECAUSE THE “PSYCH EVALUATION” THEY SUBMITTED WAS WRITTEN BY A DOCTOR WHO’D NEVER EVEN MET ME… AND WHEN THE JUDGE ORDERED MY FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE READ INTO THE RECORD, MY DAD LEANED BACK LIKE HE WAS ABOUT TO WATCH ME GET ERASED… UNTIL THE BAILIFF OPENED MY YELLOW-TABBED FOLDER AND READ THE FIRST NUMBER OUT LOUD… AND MY FATHER’S FACE CHANGED WHEN HE REALIZED WHAT WAS ON THE NEXT TAB… THE ONE LABELED “FORENSIC AUDIT”… AND THE JUDGE RAISED HIS HAND AND SAID, “STOP.”…
The envelope looked like every other piece of government mail until it didn’t. It was thicker than my electric bill, heavier than the grocery flyer, and stamped with the kind …
(USBB) IN DALLAS PROBATE COURT, MY OWN PARENTS FILED TO HAVE ME DECLARED “MENTALLY UNFIT,” PRESENTING ME AS A BROKE, ISOLATED 34-YEAR-OLD WOMAN IN A 450-SQ-FT STUDIO WITH NO HUSBAND, NO “REAL” LIFE, AND THEIR $400-AN-HOUR LAWYER SAT THERE SMILING LIKE MY FUTURE WAS ALREADY SIGNED AWAY… BUT THEN THE COURT-APPOINTED INVESTIGATOR DROPPED ONE LINE THAT MADE THE JUDGE GO STILL—BECAUSE THE “PSYCH EVALUATION” THEY SUBMITTED WAS WRITTEN BY A DOCTOR WHO’D NEVER EVEN MET ME… AND WHEN THE JUDGE ORDERED MY FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE READ INTO THE RECORD, MY DAD LEANED BACK LIKE HE WAS ABOUT TO WATCH ME GET ERASED… UNTIL THE BAILIFF OPENED MY YELLOW-TABBED FOLDER AND READ THE FIRST NUMBER OUT LOUD… AND MY FATHER’S FACE CHANGED WHEN HE REALIZED WHAT WAS ON THE NEXT TAB… THE ONE LABELED “FORENSIC AUDIT”… AND THE JUDGE RAISED HIS HAND AND SAID, “STOP.”… Read More
