Duel Perspective
I’m writing a memoir about how my father destroyed our lives, and I lost everything
For context: My daughter disclosed that my father had been abusing her for years. What followed was two years of legal proceedings and a complete breakdown of my family. My sister, my oldest son, my ex-husband, and my extended family all sided with him. His defense was that I was unfit with Munchausen and had coached my daughter to make the allegations.
During that time, my ex repeatedly called the police and CPS on me to support my dad's case. I lost my relationship with my son, who believed I had destroyed our family and abandoned him. My father ultimately pled guilty to two third-degree assaults (there was another victim involved) after initially being charged with five felonies. Because he was a soccer coach and attorney, the case was public and all over the news.
Two months after the plea deal, he evicted us from the home we had lived in for nine years—a house purchased with my grandfather’s inheritance but in his name. Over a year later, my sister is now the realtor selling that home.
My idea is to write chapters from my perspective, followed by chapters from my 13-year-old daughter's perspective (she’s a good writer) on the same events.