With Mother's Day fast approaching, our hearts go out to our mothers and grandmothers we have not seen for weeks going on months thanks to the pandemic. Many are actually held hostage in solitary confinement in nursing facilities. But what would you do if your mother was the pawn in a family feud that purposely isolated her for years against her will in a nursing home? What happens when power and greed are so totally pervasive that others are intimidated and threatened if they act? What would you think when those charged with protecting the rights of the elderly are circumvented at every turn and family members are destroyed one-by-one by extraordinary evil, corruption and abuse of power?
This is where my friend Olivia finds herself. Drowning in hopelessness of her mother held prisoner in a nursing home, she asked God to send a prayer warrior. The Lord orchestrated a Divine appointment to reunite two friends who had met and studied together eleven years prior. Each had an urgent need the other was well-equipped to satisfy. Only in God’s timing.
Olivia comes from a large Catholic family. There are a multitude of siblings. Olivia?s mother Jean had a stroke and lived alone. The family pitched in and everyone took a turn caring for their mother. In her debilitated state, Jean started some estate planning. Her choice was Olivia, the peacemaker, to be her executor. Olivia declined for personal reasons so another daughter was appointed. Executors have no responsibility to the estate until the death of the person. Olivia?s sister thought the appointment of executor was the legal right to control all aspects of Jean's life while she was yet alive. Strange and bizarre things started happening. The ?executor? changed the locks on Jean's house and literally took over the daily operation of Jean's life while she was still living it.
Evil Is Sometimes Your Brother
Along comes Olivia?s brother Patrick. He is a high-ranking government official with extraordinary influence and power. He came to the ?rescue? informing all the siblings he had been appointed Jean's power of attorney. A power of attorney gave him authority to conduct business on behalf of his mother. His position in government put police and attorneys in his pocket to “legally” record the false document and he viciously intimidated the siblings when they tried to challenge it. Jean never gave him this right but she did change her will to remove the daughter who locked her out of her own house and she appointed Patrick as first executor.
Patrick made the decision to put his mother in a Catholic nursing home. The other siblings objected as their circle of care for their mother was propelling Jean toward recovery. She was improving and happy in her home surrounded by her children. Olivia spent the nights with her mother and helped her establish routines giving her vast improvement in her ability to live independently in her own home with some assistance.
As each sibling objected to the nursing home, Patrick found ways to intimidate, terrorize and threaten. He had them investigated for tax evasion. With police, prosecutors, attorneys, state officials and judges in his pocket, he made life miserable for one sibling after the other.
The Nuns Are Complicit
The nuns running the nursing home document the file to paint a picture of interference on the part of all the siblings who visited their mom. While the siblings helped the short-staffed home by taking over much of their mother's nursing care, this was used against them in a shrewd plan orchestrated by Patrick and the Nursing Director. Patrick orchestrated a scuffle against Olivia by one of the nurses at the nursing home and then had Olivia arrested for instigating a fight. The false file notes and the actions taken on behalf of the short-staffed nursing home and Olivia?s fully orchestrated arrest made the case for Patrick to bring charges against his siblings for interference and being a detriment to their mother's health.
Who Do You Believe?
Jean loves her daughters, especially Olivia as she was the most serene and offered calming support to her mother; plus, Jean's health improved when Olivia was around. Jean told Olivia she was being drugged against her will and she was being held prisoner in the nursing home.
The more Olivia tried to advocate for her mother, the more vindictive Patrick?s power became. Their rights to see their mother were severely curtailed. In fact, Olivia?s visitation with her mother was limited to 15 minutes one time per week. This is much like the visitation rights allowed in prison. It was set at a time which conflicted with her work and the visit had to be supervised by nursing home staff. Olivia learned her mother would be heavily sedated for these visits. Olivia was not allowed her phone, to take pictures, talk about the nursing home or talk about her brother Patrick and the court order further stated any video tape could not be admissible in a court of law. Patrick really thinks of everything.
Last Minute Change to the Beneficiaries
Patrick and one of his brothers recently took Jean to an attorney to change the terms of her trust to remove the girls from the trust as beneficiaries. This was easily accomplished with intimidation and the significant abuse of power with complicit attorneys.? The daughters have all hired attorneys of their own to fight the underhanded schemes of their brother Patrick but they are subverted time and time again. With police, prosecutors, judges, and attorneys in his pocket, he is destroying all of his siblings while their mother cries desperately for help. Even the nuns who run the nursing home comply with Patrick?s dictates and control.
A documentary was about to go live surrounding this case of woeful elder abuse fueled by greed, deception, power and illicit control, but Patrick stopped it cold. He has a motion before the courts to terminate all visitation rights for all his siblings. It is being held up due to Covid-19.
Only God Can Bring Resolution
Olivia is distraught. She is the only one of the siblings who wants the best for her mother. She could care less about the money that is at the center of the madness yet she is the one who could benefit the most. She is not a fighter; she is a peace maker. She actually loves Patrick, remembers their youth fondly and prays for him that God would change his heart and renounce all the evil he has perpetrated.
Evil In A Fallen World
What would make someone so evil to misuse the authority of his office and threaten the entire town with retribution and retaliation? Olivia told me that she recently learned Patrick had been sexually abused for years by their beloved local Priest. Olivia?s family served the church and the school all the years of their life in every way imaginable. The person serving in a position most high was a sexual deviant who destroyed many young men's lives. This Priest died before being tried in court.
Patrick is likely so damaged by this heinous reoccurring act of childhood abuse, he works to exert control over and punish everyone who gets in his way. His misuse of power both personally and professionally must be stopped. The abuse of his mother must be stopped. What mindset do the nuns have to would bow down to the atrocities Patrick has ordered them to enact?
Mighty Prayer Warriors to Pray for Jean
What Olivia wants for Mother's Day is prayer by a large consortium of prayer warriors who know the power of the Lord to fight this appalling injustice. Olivia wants to be free to see her mother as often as she desires and to help her with healing modalities to get her mobile again. She wants her mother free from being drugged and isolated from loved ones. Will you join us as we pray for all mothers this Mother's Day but especially for Olivia?s mother Jean. The Lord has the power to set the captives free.
Polly Riddell writing as G. Polly Jordan is a free-lance photo journalist connecting people and the stories they tell. She believes God to show His power in this matter. She is thankful on this Mother’s Day for her own mother who is in good health where no family drama exists.