While reading an article online yesterday about Bernie Sanders, I had to ask myself: What disqualified me from being the domicile parent to my children??

Integrity?

Because I was excluded from the incestuous legal circles or perhaps because I  could not make promises of campaign money to The Honorable This or The Distinguished That?

Well, god forbid our kids should be raised by a parent with integrity.

My children are being wined and dined and promised fully funded advanced degrees on ill gotten gains. They are being raised by a smooth criminal.  Their father has committed several acts of insurance fraud and has multiple lawsuits against him from all over the state of Louisiana. He is an individual who should not be practicing law much less raising our children for the past four years.

The last telephone conversation I had with someone from an Insurance Company, where my signature and another person’s signature were forged, the dialog went like this:

Ms.Grey: “No one has made a report to the police or the Louisiana State Bar about your ex?”

Me: “Not that I know of.”

Ms.Grey: “You have not made a report?”

Me: “My attorney has not advised me to do so. Plus, I have been busy documenting my ordeal in a recently published book. My divorce cost me tens of thousands of dollars I didn’t have. Do I have to do everything?”

Ms. Grey: “You mean your ex is still practicing law?!”

Me: “Yep. Not only that but he has a weekly radio show giving legal advice. ”

Ms. Grey: “Oh my god.”

Personally, I would love to report my ex to the State Bar but my attorney, god love him, really wants me to have my half of the community property, which my ex refuses to give me. I would, in effect, have to relinquish my half in order to make the report.

I send ASAP emails to my attorney saying “Let’s do this.”,but he is tenacious about the money. I may have to wrestle him to the ground.

Clearly, my ex is an individual who should not be practicing law. He needs to be reported to the Louisiana State Bar but so far, no one has done so because they keep thinking they can get their money out of him if he continues his practice. You know, last I heard Edwin Edwards was doing fine selling Real Estate.

 

I have been asked several times, “Have you heard anything from your ex or family about the book?’  Up until recently,nothing but the sound of crickets. I would have to say the following is evidence that my ex ordered a book on Amazon as a means to cyber bully. Read on.

During my life I have witnessed people, who possess no self-awareness, display behavior much like a baboon showing his ass. Case in point, my ex has decided to turn his baboon’s ass towards reviewing my book on Amazon.com, leaving his initials behind (JS). He calls the writing “poor” and gives it a whole one star, in contrast with the nine 5 star ratings and fantastic reviews.

Further, he claims my grown children have nothing to do with me. First, this statement is false and secondly, it references nothing of the book.  It could only be made by someone heavily invested in the demise of my circumstances, not someone who has actually read the book. Besides the fact that he sounds like a lunatic, I will add he is a predator and a criminal who has committed insurance fraud. He has a lot at stake here.

As a father he is a coward who hides behind his kids and step kids. The big Christmas pictures of their Brady Bunch family, is a portrait mash up of  ‘Where’s Waldo?’ combined with, ‘Who’s going to jail?’

The camouflaging  almost works except you can still see the baboon’s ass.

My kids are just trying to survive. Two still live under their step-mother’s roof and my eldest is being bribed by a fully funded medical school education. Never mind the fact that they are forbidden to see me, I’d like to know if he has talked to the kids about, ‘Dad going to jail’… Yeah, I wonder if that conversation has happened.

The two star review by Margaret J. is someone who lives in the same retirement facility as my parents and probably their friend who doesn’t like what I wrote about them. However, I was able to extract some compassion from her, and she seemed almost reluctant to leave a poor review. Because my brother’s blood cries out to me, I could no longer keep silent about my parents.

And that is about all I have heard from my family and ex.

 

 

Since my book FIFI was birthed three months ago, I have had many great and wonderful encounters with my readers. Again, FIFI will not make everyone happy. I would not have felt I did the book justice if it did. With its release, I prepared myself for controversy. One month ago, in early February, FIFI was chosen to be the monthly read for a book club. As excited and supportive as most of the group was, someone decided a singular chapter in the book was about their church and became offended. As a result, FIFI was cancelled, full stop. Her comment to me was, “Everything in your book is negative.”  Wow. Really? I guess that is why publishers in Los Angeles wanted it.

Fast forward to yesterday, I met with two women who are still healing from being in the mega-church cult I talk about in FIFI. Both happen to be beautiful, articulate and affluent. With so much going for them, you would think they could easily snap back from a negative experience. Not so. They were traumatized and wounded. They openly shared with me their experiences which resonated strongly with the book. There was still anger, tears, and shame mixed with fear. I believed my place was to listen and I did. Admittedly, they had more stories and volunteered to tell me everything they experienced for Book 2. Perhaps, putting these events in writing will help. Writing, in itself, is a healthy process. Certainly, I welcome their stories. I am grateful this book brought us together and we completely bonded over the few hours we shared. I feel I have made great new friends.

I know I am not responsible for what my f**king family has inflicted upon others but I hope I can wake people up and shed light onto this mega-church cult situation. Once again, all I can do is sound the alarm. You and I are watching.

Such a good question and one I had not considered but clearly readers want more on the subject of FI in every possible way! So much so, that a small few seem to think I held back information from them concerning FI! I assure you I did not. Because this book is a true story and not fiction, realistically, I can only write what I know. I’m on a real time line in which I am living the book. Real life is funny in that it does not give all the answers and certainly does not come in a neat package. If my readers feel frustrated by the lack of intel I have on Dug, as well as, the lack of justice, imagine how I feel! Financial infidelity is not only a terrifying experience but massively frustrating.

When I spoke with a parish priest about my story, his first comment was, “This is an extremely complicated situation.” No shit. When reading FIFI, I suggest you fasten your seat belt and stay focused. There is a lot happening and the pace of the story clips along nicely. The book has been in the hands of a publishing company with professional editors and proofreaders. If there were any problems with the writing, I seriously doubt I would be here discussing a book with you.

What legal information I could help give my readers, I left to a professional. This is where my attorney’s contribution to the last chapter comes in and I think he took a very complicated subject and made it accessible to everyone. “If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it.” ~ Albert Einstein.

In addition, I am confident more facts will surface because the truth always rises to the top. Herein lies the genesis of Book 2. Fear not dear reader, stay with me! We will get to the bottom of this and justice will prevail! (eventually)

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HANUKKAH !!!!!!  WOOHOO!!!!

Upon request, I have joined the board for a nonprofit organization called Bridge to Justice.  At first glance, Bridge to Justice is a mediation outreach for families going through divorce.  Sadly, children involved in the divorce process are often used as pawns.  We believe justice lives in the process.  Our primary goal is to protect children by providing professionals from several disciplines who give them support.

For more information please go to our web site www.bridge2justice.com for fundraising events and to make a donation.

Sobriety is the most important thing in my life because if I am not clean and sober, I cannot do anything.  In my immediate family of origin, only my father and I read books on sobriety and attended 12 step meetings.  No one else understood setting boundaries and detaching from toxic people and situations.  These are tools I employed early on when I stopped drinking at 25 years of age.

When my children were born, I decided I would allow my family to have a relationship with them.  I know I did the right thing.  However, now that my children are grown and nearly grown, they do not need me to forge these relationships for them.  I am free to detach from members of my family who remain toxic, even now.

As you can tell from reading FIFI, I am bracingly honest about my family’s dysfunction.  Not unlike a physical wound, I believe the only way emotional wounds can begin to heal is to expose them to the sunshine and oxygen.  If my own family fails to embrace wellness, my hope is this story will help others reach sanity and peace in a bullshit free zone.

 

Short answer is : Yes.

 

I was taught by my father to always tell the truth to your doctor and to your attorney.  Hopefully these are professionals who have a history of ethical behavior and you trust them.  If not, move on.

My ex keeps trying to bait my attorney by saying things like, “Oh I sent her a check for $20,000.00.  I guess Jodi didn’t tell you.”  The phantom check never came to me nor was I made aware of its existence.  I doubt it exists except in the recesses of my ex’s warped mind.

Fortunately, my attorney knows  what he is dealing with when it comes to my ex.  He also knows I tell him everything and I have never lied.  Create that kind of relationship with your attorney.

Another good example is taken from the movie Legally Blonde where Reese Witherspoon’s client is in jail for a murder she did not commit.  The client is a fitness instructor and was getting liposuction at the time of the murder.  She had an alibi and was truthful with her attorney but could not allow her alibi to be made public because it would ruin her career.  Interesting dilemma.  Her legal representation needed to cover her and if he/she is a good attorney they can do that successfully.

Last time I checked, there is no shortage of lawyers.  Be persistent and get the relationship you want.

Being a lifelong resident of New Orleans means I was raised around the supernatural. Growing up, there was a church or synagogue in every neighborhood and we lived side by side with cemeteries…literally.  For example, when my boyfriend Jack and I went to visit his parents’ grave site recently, I walked toward a fence made of an open masonry design and could see someone’s carport and driveway connecting to the divide!  Many of the graves are above ground.  They are part of the landscape and New Orleanians drive by them each day on I-10.

A number of musicians choose to record in New Orleans, especially during their Jazz Fest performance because the music actually sounds better.  I had someone, who is not a local, tell me they heard the same jazz band in two different locations, once in NOLA and once in another city.  This band did not sound nearly as good outside of New Orleans.  He said it was like listening to a completely different group.  Musicians believe there is a spiritual connection with the musicians of the past, as well as, our history of music that does not exist any place else.

We have an Arena Football team named Voodoo and an NFL team called the Saints. The supernatural is very real to us.  It is day to day life like our spicy gumbo and red beans and rice.  So, if I talk about a Higher Power or a manifestation of evil, that is very real to me.  I’m putting myself out there and if you read any of my writing you need to understand the whole package.  I cannot separate myself from my culture.

However, I do not think my writing will ever go in the direction of horror stories. Although you might say what happened to me is a horror story of sorts, complete with its own monsters, it is not, to be sure, your classic flesh eating zombie-vampire affair. I do not read classic horror stories because I like humor.  If they could make it funny then I might try it but then I guess it would defeat the purpose of being scary!

For the record, New Orleans has the same problems as “any town USA”.   No better and no worse.   I have spent time in a few big cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta and  Boston, so I have witnessed the similarities first hand.  What we do well here is a kind of ambassadorship.  During Mardi Gras the Catholics, atheists, Muslims, Protestants and Jewish brothers and sisters all show up for the parade.  We know how to be cool, laugh and have a good time.  Certainly, that humor and levity shows up in my writing.   New Orleans taught me, when you can laugh, you can overcome the difficulties of life.

During the Civil Rights Movement, New Orleans was the only city in the South without violence.  You could call us the UN of the South, only we don’t consider ourselves southern.  We are a port city like NYC.  Our accent is different and so is our attitude.  We are our own country.  Anyway, we know how to charm the pants off of anyone and have them eating beignets out of our hand! 😉  I hope the love for my city and its people shows in my writing as well.

So, come down and see us and shake it in the hood cuz it’s all good!

The following response is a quote from something I read.  I cannot recall if it was from a book or a internet piece but I quote:

“At least in part because of the language used to describe them.  They are lawmakers, leaders, The Honorable This, The Distinguished That.  Such vacuous honorifics subliminally suggest that, having attained positions of power, they are now set way above John Doe or Jane Doe, Joe Sixpack or Joe Shmoe.”

There is a condition called The Tyranny of the Weak.  You and I cannot stand by and allow others, who are pathologically dysfunctional, rule the day by destroying lives.