In case you haven't seen it, a grandfather's letter

[Bill W]

Here is the link to the letter a grandfather wrote, after his daughter kicked out her gay son.  It's well worth the read.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/02/grandpa-letter-gay-grandson_n_4029750.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl6%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D385252

[Slytherin]

Loved it !  Grandfather of the year !

[Daddydavek]

Thank heavens that boy had his grandpa to turn to.   

[Suvitar]

Really lovely letter and a great granddad  

[Benji]

................Great letter!! Great grandad!

[Zombie]

Go Granddad!!

 

Two things puzzle me - aren't parents in the US legally obligated to nurture and provide for their children irrespective? Surely they'd be criminally and civilly liable if they "kicked out", "disowned" (favourite staples of gay fiction ) or failed to to nurture and provide for them?

Also don't see why the Huff corrected his grammar ["sic"] - seems fine to me.
 

[joann414]

Yay, for wonderful grandparents.  I love this!

[Ron]

It's been pointed out and I agree, that this letter is suspect. If the father sent this to his daughter, how on earth did it end up on the web? It isn't plausible that she would post it anywhere. Seems like it could be hoax/fake thing.

[Tomas]

Go Granddad!!

 

Two things puzzle me - aren't parents in the US legally obligated to nurture and provide for their children irrespective? Surely they'd be criminally and civilly liable if they "kicked out", "disowned" (favourite staples of gay fiction ) or failed to to nurture and provide for them?

 

Also don't see why the Huff corrected his grammar ["sic"] - seems fine to me.

 

I'm not sure that, that is true.

If it is, my question would be; why are the parents of the approximately 1.5 million kids who have been kicked out of their homes, and/or abandoned by their parents, and are now living on the streets in US cities not been prosecuted?

[Bill W]

My first take was that the grandfather took a photo of the letter before he sent it, so he'd have it to show his grandson or others later. 

[Zombie]

I'm not sure that, that is true.

If it is, my question would be; why are the parents of the approximately 1.5 million kids who have been kicked out of their homes, and/or abandoned by their parents, and are now living on the streets in US cities not been prosecuted?

 

This is from a UK govt website

 

1. What is parental responsibility?

All mothers and most fathers have legal ... responsibilities as a parent - known as ‘parental responsibility’.

If you have parental responsibility, your most important roles are to:

• provide a home for the child
• protect and maintain the child

 

2. Who has parental responsibility

A mother automatically has parental responsibility for her child from birth.

A father usually has parental responsibility if he is:

• married to the child’s mother
• listed on the birth certificate (after a certain date, depending on which part of the UK the child was born in)

 

Like everything else, people don't always do what they should do. So there are lots of legal mechanisms in place where parents fail to meet their responsibilities. No system is perfect but the law is on the child's side.  Seems pretty obvious to me that this should be so.

 

https://www.gov.uk/parental-rights-responsibilities/what-is-parental-responsibility

[Rndmrunner]

i find the incident and the letter disturbing. I commend the grandfather for standing up for his grandson and for taking him in. I understand how people use hateful language in the heat of the moment but am still a little shocked that a parent could call his daughter a B in print. It speaks to how this family have become strangers to each other. Someone mentioned that this letter was posted on a UK website - interesting as the language makes this clearly an american writer. 

 

Great to see a grandfather sticking up for what is right and loving his grandson. Still i am not sure that this is not a fiction

[TetRefine]

It's been pointed out and I agree, that this letter is suspect. If the father sent this to his daughter, how on earth did it end up on the web? It isn't plausible that she would post it anywhere. Seems like it could be hoax/fake thing.

 

Totally agree. Have you ever noticed that whenever one of these letters pops up on the web, there is never a follow up story to confirm that the persons involved are actually real? That the story told to us in the letter actually did happen? I am willing to bet that its simply activists who create these letters and post them up on the web until they go viral to try and further their cause. Not that furthering the cause is a bad thing, but I bet 90% of the letters that get posted like this one are a complete sham.