January weekends

So much happens in a year,many things change,time never stands still,perhaps that's a good thing sometimes,we all wish at some point in our lives that we could turn back time.

When I look back to this time last year our nightmare was just beginning,I remember attending parents evening,telling some of the teachers that I was concerned about my daughter's relationship with a man.They reassured me that her schoolwork wasn't affected so not to worry,she was doing so well,on target to have such a promissing future,her whole life ahead of her.
Of course events were to move on very quickly from then,becoming out of control so soon it took everyone by surprise.

We used to walk around car boot sales,looking for bargains,this time last year we went to one such sale,our daughter had been shopping the day before and had returned very happy with a bag full of gifts from a boy she had told us she knew from school.While we were out that day she received a disturbing phone call,from the man ,he was threatening to kill himself because he said that she didn't love him.

In hindsight it would have been better if he had gone through with it,of course we now know that this was just one of his many silly games.
This saga of shopping and then suicide threats was to happen a further 3 weekends running,our diary from last year shows our total dispair.We consulted parentline,the police,the samaritans and social services but no-one seemed to understand sexual grooming.
The only good thing was that she was still attending school,bringing some sort of normailty to everyone's lives,especially hers.


So what about this year,a very different situation.
There are now 3 of us living at home,we don't do car boot sales anymore,in fact every aspect of our lives has changed.
I guess the only thing that remains the same is our son,he has regained his wicked sense of humour that was missing for so long last year.
He has changed so much,grown up into a fantastic young man,I'm so immensly proud of him.
We are now very aware of the dark side of life in this country,something that we were totally unaware of this time last year.
I have spent some time on the phone today,helping out another family,being a shoulder to cry on,a listening ear,someone to sound off at.
You see our case is far from unique,this sort of thing is happening on a daily basis to families all over the country.It doesn't matter what background you come from,where abouts in the country you live,or how you have brought your children up.These men are total scum,they get a kick out of ruining other people's lives,for their own personal gain.