In the past few weeks my open letter to Kristin Keel has resurfaced and made the rounds again, opening my blog up to many questions about the situation. I wanted to share with those of you curious what has come of the whole ordeal since January.
We pushed pretty hard down many different avenues to have her and her husband punished for, at the very least, identity theft of our child. Since there was no record of gifts and money they received as a result of their fake child's death, it has been impossible. There are, unfortunately, no proven laws broken against us personally. Maybe one day we will have the energy to initiate a bill that would make sure that online identity theft of a deceased person is a crime. We don't have that energy right now.
We've done what we can. I wrote the truth and published it here and it made its way to the eyes of all the people who grieved for a child that didn't exist. It helped loss support groups kick Kristin out so that she could not also prey on their children. It gave a name to the face that has tried to keep scamming so many more people. I said my piece. So, really, I've done my part.
It has been a really hard 18 months and it's just time for us to try and regain some kind of normalcy. The anger and bitterness that Satan tried to plant using Kristin really have no room here in the grief we are trying to tend to. Ryan and I consciously stepped back from the drama in an effort to keep a hold of our sanity and we have decided that forgiveness is the only way to free us from the hurt she caused. And we are also praying genuinely for a change in the hearts of Kristin and Troy. We are super grateful for the kindness and love and support we have received from the whole new wave of strangers brought into our lives by this and that's what we have to focus on.
This blog has been such a blessing for me. I have been able to journal into it, share it publicly, and connect with hearts that I never would have had the opportunity without the wonderful internet. It's healing. Connection is powerful.
However, the internet is not always a safe place for a grieving heart.. and so I have to take steps to intentionally protect mine.
I have been receiving some nasty, demented comments on my blog posts. They have been untrue and very angry. I don't know the people who have been leaving them, but they implied that me getting pregnant is the same as having an abortion. One has even accused me of killing my children by inflicting self harm. My heart has broken over and over at these comments and I just don't understand what someone has been through in their lives to draw such sick conclusions. I have nothing else to say about them. This is a place for my story. It is a place where my children leave their legacies. I won't allow it to be tainted by lies and hate.
I knew when I began blogging 3 years ago that opening my life up to the outside world would make me vulnerable to the nuts. Mostly (with the exception of a LOT of spell-caster love potion maker spam) the comment section of my blog has been full of love, kindness, and connection. I am so grateful for the other loss moms it has led me to and the power that my writing has to heal me and give others the courage to tell their stories too.
But, I cannot continue to allow abusive words to be left here for others to read and be injured by, and between trying to write a book and run a new business... I simply don't have the time or energy to watch the comment section closely enough to vet every one that comes in. For that reason, comments will be disabled moving forward. I hope that this doesn't discourage other mamas from reaching out to me through email, and I'm sorry if those comments have been a distraction. I'm going to keep writing when I need to and I'm going to keep sharing my babies and this story. That's what I'm here for.
