Friday, June 15, 2012

Rose's Thorns ~ by John S. McCormick

Sam Miller's phone rings at one o'clock in the morning. Once again, it's his sister, Rose Sellars, calling late crying hysterically. In between sobs, she tries to speak, "My children hate me. I must be a bad person for them to hate me so much."

Sam responds irritably, "Rose, I am tired of you calling me about those brats! You don't deserve what they put you through." "No. I must do something to make them feel this way.", she says softly. "Rose, they are adults in their twenties and thirties! They need to grow up and get over whatever issues they have with you and treat you right!", Sam says forcefully.

"They blame me for everything, including marrying Nick. The fact he is now dead isn't even good enough for them. They even blame me for the way Ted treated me. They say I deserved it.", Rose says as she starts crying heavily again.

Rose married Nick Sellars after twenty years of physical and verbal abuse while married to her kids' father, Ted Barker. After her divorce from Ted, she learned her high school sweetheart, Nick, was in prison. Rose believed in his innocence and married him while he was still in prison. She worked hard on his case eventually proving his innocence setting him free.

Unfortunately, after ten years in prison, Ted never adjusted back to the real world. He eventually committed suicide. Rose found his dead body next to hers in their bed. He had taken an overdose of her prescription medications.

All of her children frowned on all of this, especially her youngest daughter, Marie Porter. "Marie even said I can't see her daughter when she is born unless I get rid of everything in my life that reminds me of Nick.", Rose said. "Rose, that's bullshit! You're not going to do that, are you?", Sam says angrily. "I don't know what to do. I want to see my new granddaughter.", Rose says sadly. "You can't let Marie manipulate and control your life. Who is she anyways, but a spoiled immature arrogant brat! What the hell does she know about anything?", Sam says getting more upset.

"It's not just Marie. The others girls and Clay say horrible things to me.", Rose explains. In addition to Marie, Rose has twin daughters, Lynn Meyers and Tricia Phillips, which are her oldest kids. She also has a son, Clay Barker. "Rose, I am so sick of all this. It has to stop. Just don't talk to them anymore for a long time. Then maybe they will appreciate you more.", Sam says still upset.

Rose explains, "You're not a mother. That's easier said than done, and I want to see my granddaughter." "Well, it's your life, and I don't mean to sound rude, but I don't want to hear about anything they are doing or saying to you like this anymore. You do what you want.", Sam says firmly. "I'm sorry I bothered you with all this.", Rose says. "You didn't bother me. You can call me anytime you want to. I just don't want to talk about your kids anymore unless they are treating you right.", Sam says again firm. Rose and Sam end their conversation and say goodbye.

Sam still fuming, decides to send emails to all four of Rose's kids asking them to give their mother a break and treat her better. He tries to be very diplomatic in what he writes. He received in response extremely nasty emails basically telling him to mind his own business.

Marie's email was the nastiest. She said that Sam just made sure her mom would never see her granddaughter. She also said her mother was a shitty mother because her mother's mother, her grandmother, was a shitty mother, too. She went a step further and called Sam's side of the family white trash.

This infuriated Sam even more, but he didn't respond back to any of their emails or tried to contact them in any way. He didn't want to make matters worse. Sam later found out that all of Rose's kids blamed her for him sending his emails. This made Rose and her kids have an even more strained relationship. Sam felt horrible for his part in causing that.

Eventually, Rose took Sam's advice and moved across the country to live with him until she got a job and found her own place. In the meantime, Rose's kids are still blaming her for things. However, Marie has agreed to let Rose come to her daughter's first birthday where Rose will get to see her granddaughter for the first time.

Rose hopes in the near future that she and her kids can be a real family. Keeping his thoughts and opinions to himself these days, Sam doubts that much will change or for very long for Rose and her kids.

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