I'm Nena, the wife of TMS, who used to post in this forum. I'm posting a letter I wrote to my younger sister yesterday. I caught her and my one-year older sister selling my furniture at a garage sale. At her invitation, TMS and I have been storing all our furniture in her garage. We had a key to her garage for access to our goods. Now she is using most of our pieces throughout her home and has changed her locks. Both of my sisters are baptized Jehovah's Witnesses in good standing. The two women were selling sets of rattan and wicker furniture they couldn't use. I wrote my younger sister because there is a slight possibility I can reach her heart. The older sister is incorrigible.
I realize the following letter is not self-explanatory, but I will add detail later as this situation is ongoing and multi-faceted
Dear Dina,
Why am I writing a letter to you? I've found it difficult to talk to you in person because you seldom make eye contact. Anyway, you're usually around your oldest sister and she dominates any conversation near her, especially when someone tries to talk to you. Also, I have deep feelings and my emotions get the best of me when I try to talk. So, I'm writing my feelings down.
You can't imagine how shocked I was to see you and your family helping to sell my things. Most of the items you were selling out front were gifts to me from my son which I could not put a value on. What kind of a sister would do that? You may have gotten a slight understanding of how I felt when your son sold some of your families' things. What you and your family are selling or stealing are all the things my husband and I have accumulated in 36 years of marriage.
I will never forget your first words to Jim and I yesterday: "You're too late!" Not that that would have excused your actions anyway, but let me explain what you and Teresa did. Teresa sent a certified letter to us. The letter was not delivered since we were not home to sign for it. We picked it up late Monday afternoon at the Rio Hondo Post Office. Here is what the letter said: "THIS SERVES TO NOTIFY YOU THAT YOU 24 HOURS TO GET YOUR BELONGINGS OUT OF MY BACK PORCH. PLEASE CALL FIRST SO THAT WE CAN UNLOCK THE SIDE GATE. TERESA ROTH & FAMILY. PHONE: 956-8316508"
Jim wanted to rent a truck and go down there immediately, but I knew it would be of no use if the gate was locked. I wanted him to call first. We called for two days with no answer. Teresa's excuse for not answering was that she doesn't answer unpublished numbers. What you and she did was similar to the way Jesus was dealt with by Pilate and others. You tried to find a legal way to do badness. What you did was wrong and deep down you know it.
Let me give you another example of the underhanded way you and Teresa operated. Our brother Johnny says he received a call from Teresa with a hypothetical question: "A friend has left some stuff in my house and never picked it up. What should I do?" Do you think he would have responded in the same way if she had told him, the "stuff" was all of his sister's possessions?
We've been trying to negotiate the release of our possessions peacefully for two months. Teresa ordered us off her property and threatened us with a restraining order. We wrote the elders. They chose not to communicate with us, probably because we're no longer witnesses. But there is a humane way to treat witnessses and non-witnesses. Have you ever read how Jesus treated sinners and non-believers?
I really thought Teresa's position would soften when she recalled how much Jim and I had done for her at no cost. We recovered her back yard from years of neglect, repainted and decorated her kitchen and living room. Her bathroom was caked with mold and mildew. Her screened porch was unusable. We redecorated Tere's room, patched a roof leak, etc. Three trips we made to Galveston to take her for treatment. In spite of this, Teresa allowed her neck to harden like Pharoah and the ancient Isrealites.
I screamed out when I saw what you and Teresa had done to the antique boat dresser by leaving it out to ruin in the torrential rains. I bought that thirty-five years ago and have pictures of my work restoring it. It was my son's first dresser. Teresa knew how much this piece meant to me and it simply illustrates her maliciousness that she chose that particular item to throw outside. She chose to keep three other antique dressers in the house because she intended to keep them. This item she had no use for and ruined it. You could have saved it but chose not to.
I want to talk about the lies you and Teresa told to get Jim and I arrested. You know I never hit Teresa. She hit and pushed me, but I never touched her. I yelled and screamed, but I did not get physical and, of course, Jim did not. Lieing becomes a habit and eventually comes easily. Kids hear there parents lie and learn that as acceptable behavior. Let me use this example. Teresa claimed that she enrolled Diedra in a school outside her territory by claiming to be the guardian in whose home Diedra resides. If Teresa represented things accurately, then Diedra is in that school based on a lie and knows it. What does that teach her about telling the truth? Also, if you and your kids lie to the police about what happened yesterday, what example does that set? "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful in much."
One good thing came out of the pain you and Teresa inflicted on us. I thought we were alone in this world, but I was wrong. The love shown to us by Annalee and Janie, Mama and Milo overwhelmed us. They took care of everything. We do have family afterall.
Nena