Thanksgiving Spent in Hiding

Thanksgiving. Today marks 16 months and 494 days since Sydney and Dani ran away on July 17, 2014.

I miss my sisters and mom every single day, but October/November/December is harder than most. As some of you know, Dani's 15th birthday was October 29th, my mom's birthday was November 4th, and then the holidays follow, which feel especially lonely. Every day that has passed this month, I have wanted so badly to blog but the pain of trying to explain how I feel is overwhelming.

This morning I woke up and my first thought, as usual, was wondering how my mom and sisters are doing. I can only hope and pray that my family is being taken care of and fed well today. This will be the second Thanksgiving that they do not have the ability to celebrate with loved ones or even see loved ones because of my father Brian Wolferts and the corruption of the court system that brought us to this point (an upcoming post will touch more on this).

When my situation went national, I saw a lot of comments being thrown around the internet regarding the girls being in hiding. I saw many people accuse me and my family of being "abusers" because I "supported" them being in hiding. I feel the need to clarify a few things. 

What I do not support:
I am not in support with them being isolated from society. I hope that they are getting some kind of schooling because I am also not in support with them missing school (but if they are with my mother--a teacher and a nurturer--I think she would be doing everything she can to keep their schooling a priority). I am not in support of them enduring the difficulties and that I'm sure come with trying to live undercover.

I am also not in support of child abusers. I am not in support of the way the courts never talked to us, the way they struck our mom's pleadings and gave our abuser full custody after six years of living with our mom (despite the findings against him). I am not in support of the way my dad's attorney slyly pushed Sydney and Dani's court date from early July to October, denying me of reading their evidence in that Utah court and telling Sydney and Dani they simply had to go back to their abuser in Kansas after exposing him.

The list goes on forever, but the bottom line is: I am not in support of Sydney and Danielle Wolferts continually being silenced sent back to our abuser.

What I do support:
I am in support of my sisters being free from our abuser, voicing the truth of what they have endured, and being heard. There is nothing more important than this.

Since they ran away, there hasn't been a chance to hear their full story. They sent in videos on an unmarked package to one of my extended family members throughout last year, but there isn't much else. Here is a link to their first video, and I highly recommend watching the others. It is obvious that they have practiced what they decided to say, and are even reading from paper in some, but regardless they are speaking their truth. Here is a link to the "Documents" tab where some of Sydney and Dani's writings and journal entries are located.

If you are wondering how you can help, I would ask you to please continue sharing the blog link with everyone who hasn't had the chance to read it. Some people--for reasons completely beyond my understanding--believe that children's statements need to be ignored and they should be placed with the parent that they say is their abuser. Other people are confused in what they believe because haven't read this blog and my sister's statements. So please--share on social media, and keep them in your prayers. This is their second Thanksgiving spent in hiding, because the courts didn't protect them from our father.

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! Spend it making precious memories with your families. We never know how much time we have with them.