Disowned by Family Members

As a small child attending a Polygamist church with my family, and living the polygamy ways, I noticed a few things about family.  Our family of 8 use to always go to my Grandmas house for Thanksgiving, which was about 10 hours away.  We stayed in her house, and ate at her super long table.  I have many  pictures of this happy, annual holiday at her house, pre polygamy.

Once our family converted from Mormons to Polygamist, things changed.  We stopped spending Thanksgiving at my Grandma's, and the only time we went there was for annual family reunions.  We no longer stayed with Grandma or Aunts or Uncles, we didn't hang out at their homes, we camped in the mountains for a week and spent time as a family, and attended the reunions.  I loved these week long camping in the mountain with my family times.  They are fond memories of mine.

Little did I know that the reasons we were camping and not hanging out with her sisters and brothers, was because my mom's mother wanted not much to do with her.  She obviously did not agree with my parents choice of religion.  She still gave us hugs and treated us kids the same, as far as I recall, but apparently there was more.

Thinking about God for a second, he is our father, and he understands that we, his children will make mistakes, but he still loves us and does his best to help us.  I can't imagine my own mother who is still living to right me off as her child.

Many years later and many years after my Grandmothers death, I found out that she left all her kids money and belonging, and my mom was left $1.00.  This still hurts me to think that a mother could love her kids differently.   So differently that she divides her estate between her kids to show it.

My mom never said anything to us kids about this, I just remember her mom passing away and how hurt my mom was.  I thought all her pain came from the fact that she had lost her mom.  But now today, I am still hurt over how the will of my grandmother was written, and how her estate was divided.  Willing her daughter $1 was such a slam from her to my parents, which is exactly what my grandmother was trying to do.