One week from today, July 22, my son, and one and only child, will have his third birthday. It will be the third year in a row that I will have been prevented from seeing him, whether through circumstances, or through sheer cruelty.
On Austin’s first birthday, I naturally assumed we’d be able to be together. It’s only human, right? Well, unfortunately, the reality hadn’t quite sunk into my thick skull that Austin’s mother ISN’T human, she’s more like a machine. That year, his birthday was on Sunday. The day before, was one of the days of the week in which Austin was released from his captor and hang out with Daddy. The arcane family court system in Hennepin County Minnesota, relied on an incredibly out-of-date social theory for non-custodial parents of infants. The idiotic Supreme Court of MN decided, based on some “task force” that very young children should only have “brief but frequent” visits with the non-custodial parent. After doing further research on this, I discovered that newer, more updated studies disagreed with this.
Saturday, July 21, 2007, it was a beautiful day and Austin and I were toolin’ around Eden Prairie; I was pushing him around in his stroller. He liked the toys at the library, so we wandered in there and we played together for over an hour or so. As 12:00 approached, the designated time in which I had to hand Austin back over, I decided to call his mother to have her just pick Austin up at the library (2 minutes from the townhouse). However, as often happened with me, my good intentioned plans got sabotaged by unforeseen meteorites that somehow come crashing threw the ceiling at the worst possible time. The wayward projectile that came flying at me that day caused my cell phone to pick up absolutely NO signal – thus preventing me from notifying the ever-volatile volcano, Mt. St. Hellwhore. As such, when I was finally able to get through somehow, the machine went berserk.
I quickly helped Austin clean up the little mess of toys we had managed to make and snuggled him back into his stroller. When the “blonder than she pays to be” cyborg walked in, I quite naturally asked it, “So, what are we going to do about Austin’s birthday tomorrow?” I was given a “does not compute” gaze from its eyes, “What do you mean?” “Well, it’s Austin’s first birthday, so I’m wondering when I’ll be able to get to see my son.”
Despite whatever animosity existed between us, it never even OCCURRED to me that someone would be so cruel, both to me AND to her son, by depriving us both of a crucial relationship. But, my expectations were that of a human being, one who actually possesses a heart. My faulty assumption was quickly exposed, however, when the machine revealed that it was not programmed with the ability to show any type of genuine compassion. Without any sort of consideration whatsoever, it said in a monotone voice, with a matching expressionless face, “I think we should stick to the court order.”
I was speechless. All I could do was stare into the steely, cold eyes before me, hoping to find even a faint glimmer of a soul. But, sadness welled up within me, as I failed to find any evidence. My own eyes streamed out the uncontainable expressions of my soul, as I knelt down to the stroller, thankful that my little buddy had no idea of the tragedy happening right before him, and would never remember it. I kissed my son and hugged him so tight, saying, “Happy Birthday, Austin! Happy Birthday! I love you so much.” I stood back up, and without any further acknowledgment, not even a glance, I walked straight out of the building. Another piece of my heart died.
If anyone reading this would like to send Austin a birthday card, PLEASE do so, indicating how you know his daddy. His address is:
Austin Berg
13608 Fernando Avenue
Apple Valley, MN 55124
I am also putting together a DVD containing pictures, music, and videos. If you’d like me to include pictures as well as any birthday wishes you might have for him, feel free to indicate that here in a comment to this post or in an email.
God bless