((((Love11))))
I can truly sympathize with your situation. It is so frustrating and sad to watch your family vilify you for no aparent reason other than playing the 'lets gang up on (insert family members name here)'. It's like third grade politics and sadly many of us deal with it.
My mother in law bought me a computer a while back for which I was to pay her in monthly installments. I kept receipts for all of the payments, you got it, save one made in cash. The situation on the one payment made in cash was that she was visiting for Christmas one year and crying because she did not have the money for some of the nicer things that she had before she moved back to Missouri, and stated that she'd like to go shopping but was strapped. I told her that I had a small savings, and would be happy to pull it out and give it to her in place of three months worth of the payments if that would make Christmas easier for her. She agreed, and I went to the ATM and withdrew $375.00 and brought it back and gave it to her in the presence of her daughter.
Later that day, I also took her and bought her some nice things, more than I could afford, really.
At the end of the loan, I sent the last check and a balance sheet showing the $375.00 in cash that I had given her at Christmas the year before. She called me and told me she didn't remember the money and that I needed to pay the last three payments or else. I told her I was surprised and that I did not think that was fair. I didn't have the money in the budget to do so immediately but in the intrest of peace, I'd do what I could. After she got off the phone, she hit the roof, went to my RockerDude (my husband)'s brother and cried and told him I was scum and a dirtbag and that he needed to pressure my hubby to make me cough up the money. RockerDudes brother, being absolutely blindly a momma's boy, came at him (not me mind you since he would have gotten his ass handed to him had he tried that with me and he knows it) like an insane person calling me every name in the book. They almost came to blows. When I found out I was stunned. There had been nothing in her demeanor on the phone to indicate the storm that was going to follow, and over a lousy $375.00!
I didn't have it, and asked her what she wanted me to do. She wanted to sue, so I boxed up the computer and sent it back to her. I couldn't believe it. She had the computer and the money and still has had nothing positive to say to us for the past four years. In that time she has accused us of all types of things and has made trouble for us as often as she can.
Two years ago, she called CPS on us and told them that I was such an evil person that when they showed up at the door, they sent not the standard one officer and social worker, but two cops and two social workers and were prepared to take my son away on the spot. The entirely false charges were that we did not provide him with any toys or clothes (His room looks like Disney Land and his dresser are full of designer lables, lol), that we would not buy him shoes so that his feet were deformed (he has a birth defect in that his little toes curl under naturally and if she was really interested in her grandson at all she'd have known that), that I burned him with the cigerette lighter (HUH? don't have a clue where that came from), that I was always asleep during the day (when she visited for Christmas I had the flu and did not come over to the inlaws house for the noon meal because I was sick, RockerDude told them he had left me to take a nap because I was sick), that I beat him for not taking big bites of food (she had overheard our son being told *by his dad* not to take such big bites of food because he would choke).
After spending 15 minutes with us the charges were listed as unfounded and they actually apologized for troubling us...It was still pretty intimidating and frightening that the woman would stoop so low.
This woman has done so many spitefull things over the years that we've been married that after the last thing with the CPS, and having the sister in law jump in on the bandwagon, that RockerDude and I have had to walk away from them all. There is only so much drama that you can take in your life and remain sane.
Although it is painful when family members choose to lie and abuse other family members, sometimes the situation cannot be fixed. For us, there came a time to walk away. The last Christmas and Thanksgiving were so peaceful. No drama. So quiet, really wonderful. We just invited friends and the kids and there was no backbiting, in fighting and silly third grade politics. Loved it...
Jeannie