Comments on: Where's Molly?
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- I, like many others, created an account simply to be able to respond to this extraordinary and moving piece.
I am a parent of a child with Autism. Although my son is very high-functioning and able to attend school with his peers, this wasn't always the case. We had many struggles as a family while my son was young. We wondered if he would ever have meaningful speech. We wondered if he would ever potty train. We wondered if he would ever play with other children. We wondered and worried about what this life would hold for him.
Yes, my son gets made fun of at school sometimes and yes, he is different but I am determined to give him every chance to succeed. And I want every opportunity I have to love him.
Your parents did the best they could with what they knew. I cannot imagine the pain they carried with them every day. Your father's creativity in keeping Molly in his life speaks volumes about the man he was.
Jeff and Cindy -- you are wonderful people. Bless you for not only caring enough to find Molly but for embracing her and welcoming her into your life. Her life and yours will be all the better for it. - Reply to this comment
- This story made me think of a movie that I saw recently -- "A Child is Waiting" - it came out in 1963 and starred Burt Lancaster and Judi Garland. I was totally horrified by the plot - it was all about a school for the handicapped but it was based on the premise that these kids needed to be removed from their homes and institutionalized - that they were better off somehow. There was a conflict between the male psychiatrist who ran the place and Garland - a teacher who was angry that a child's parent's wouldn't come and see him. The lesson seemed to be that these kids would suffer if left at home with "normal" kids. I was reminded of my high school reunion a few years ago when I ran into a guy who went all through school with me. We knew as kids that he was different - and I started school in 65. I've always heard that these kids got made fun of, but I never saw that in my tough little grammar school. The other kids never gave him a hard time. These days, he works as a stock boy in a store and probably has done better than some of his peers who were not classified as mentally retarded. Some parents simply demanded that their kids get what they deserved - fair treatment and an education. Some got bullied by characters like the one played by Lancaster into doing the wrong thing. Some just couldn't cope. But it is amazing how far we have come in the past 50 years.
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- jeff, I had to create an account in order to salute you. I am so happy for you.I have lost 3 family members in the last 20 months. Spend time with Molly and Cindy and the rest of your family, hopefully your brother.
Continue with your story so more people can hear it. It lioterally brought tears to my eyes. - Reply to this comment
- What an incredible story Jeff. Thank you for sharing your heart and your story with all of us. I thank CBS Sunday Morning for being so aware of the needs around us that they would allow you to share this through them. I'm sure you must have beaten yourself up terribly once you realized what happened. How do you make it up to her but not overwhelm her? I have a similar situation as I was raped as a 17 year old girl, two days out of high school. I gave my son up for adoption as I knew in my heart was the right thing to do for him. I had a horrible hole in my entire being for 18 years until he found me. I did not get to visit from afar like your dad did to know he was alive and what he looked like. I think that would have been even harder though....to see him and not be able to hold him and take him home. I think your dad suffered in silence more than anyone will ever know! My hole is now healed, and I struggle with the same dilemna. How do we make it up to them without overwhelming them because of our own guilt? We just love them, day by day, and thank the good Lord that He has given us a second chance. Not too many people get those in this world! Thank you again for sharing your amazing story.
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- When I was very little, I had a playmate named Stevie who would appear during the day and disappear after we laid down every night. After a few months, there was no Stevie. Years later I assumed that Stevie was an imaginary playmate. Many years later I mentioned my imaginary friend Stevie, my older sister corrected me and told me that Stevie's mom was a single woman would worked at the hospital during the afternoons. She would pick up Stevie every night and drop him off late in the morning. I spent years thinking Stevie wasn't real.
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- Thev parents were forced to give up their righrs as parents..I was so messed up I could not think for myself..I look younger than I am due to C/P. For years I had to carry ID as I could pass as underage. I was 33 when a cop took me to grammar school. I grad high school sp ed in 74. I am 56.. People can't believe I am that old..
I don't know about today..
Surely years ago brothers/sisters had to know family members went missing..
People are not going catch a person's handicaps..Handicapp people have always been and be with us..
Some are born with handicaps..Others thru war..On the job.. - Reply to this comment
- Dear Jeff,
Thank ye for yer kindness..I am grateful that yer kin was not abused..Some are..The people that abused me are long dead. I write here to educate and open their minds to the abuse in homes I lived in. Some times I am in tears..What floored me is as a helpness sp child/teen the very people that were to care for me abused me,,It happens in foster homes. In a person own family home.. I am appalled that in the 50s they ripped families apart. I just had to read yer article..
I did live in foster where my parents were barred from visiting..I know also they forbade me from using my name..I have closre.. That is knowing the abusers are dead..That it ended the day I left the Maine center and that was a place in Portland blind persons lived and worked in shelter workshop..The staff were not train in the needs of us blind..
In the 50s children born with handicaps were barred from school.
Ye cant fully blame yer parents..Children with handicapped were given up as they were barred from health care. When said child/ren were put on the state the parents gave their parental rights..I was born and raise in Maine..
The only reason I went to Pineland I was sick and they had a sick bay there.
Yer lucky ye found Molly.. - Reply to this comment
- This story wowed me. That just as easily could have been my mother. She was born in the early 1950's with a cleft palate and some deformities on her hands and feet. The doctors recommended that she be institutionalized. They thought she would have a mental disability to go with the physical problems. After some surgeries to repair things, though, she turned out just fine. Thank God for the stubborn streak that runs through my family.
I'm sorry this family has gone through this, but I'm glad Molly was found. - Reply to this comment
- I'm speechless... but it is a very interesting story.
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- Dear Cindy and Jeff,
Finally I get to see this story even though I missed it Sunday Morning.
Good Job!! Please give my love to your sister and tell her that I am honored that I got to be a part of your lives.
Love,
Betty - Reply to this comment
