You Look Bad, I look Good

Posted on January 26, 2018 by losingemma

My daughter Emma Katherine Roey, now Emma Buchheim, lied about a friend being raped and attempting suicide, claimed to have been molested by a priest, and then, just as her attorneys were about to file a law suit, Emma accused her mother (me) of physically abusing her and later of poisoning her with DDT. Emma claimed to have a toxicology report to confirm that her mother (me, again!) poisoned her, but would never turn over this report to my attorney. If you read through the blog, you will find many other examples of Emma’s lying. At one point, she even complained about the way her dad touched her and that he called her a “bitch” and a “slut” everyday. (I refused to listen to her when she talked about her dad like that.) As long as Emma continues with the lies, I will tell her story. Emma and her current husband, Tyler Buchheim live in Frisco, Texas where Tyler, who has put architecture on hold, is studying to be a Full Stack Developer at the Flatiron School in an effort to avoid a midlife crisis (according to Tyler). Emma works in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area as an insurance underwriter. Emma and Tyler are the parents to two little dogs, Arya and Sansa. (Emma is a huge Game of Thrones fan.) Love and thanks to all of you who read and have written to me. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at: losingemma@gmail.com Please continue to share the blog with others.

You Look Bad, I look Good

(Kind of like I’m OK, You’re OK, only different.)

I hope to read more and learn more about sociopathy, and as most of you know, I think Emma has some kind of personality disorder, perhaps she is a sociopath, and/or a narcissist, borderline, etc. Since Phill and I weren’t trained in the soft sciences, and since we were the proud parents, who could never believe ill off our daughter, I think we missed a lot of signs that Emma exhibited that showed had some sort of psychological problem. If I were to list the signs we missed, here is a good start:

charm-superficial

high IQ

constantly lying

especially to deceive or exploit others

lack of empathy

gas-lighting

manipulation

grandiose self-image

narcissism

paranoia

lack of conscience

disregard for the safety of others

arrogance

opinionated

few actual friends

disregard for right or wrong

failure to consider or learn from negative consequences

need for stimulation and drama

One day, I would like to address each of these signs or symptoms (and more) as they apply to Emma, but I have to admit that when I read “disregard for the safety of others” it took me a while to get that one. Emma wasn’t some reckless kid drinking and driving, or doing drugs. That one just didn’t make sense to me. It took me a while to see that Oh………………….for example, accusing the priest of sexually molesting Emma was a perfect example. She didn’t stop to think of what kind of pain her actions would cause this man, it was just about Emma getting the attention she needed. Ok, I get it now.

Once I understood Emma’s disregard for the safety of others, I understood a little more about her lies. Emma liked to play the victim, and in playing the victim, she needed someone to be the bad guy, hence, a lot of her stories made someone else look bad or stupid to make herself look better.

If you’ve read the blog, you know I’ve listed plenty of lies Emma told about others, and I want to go back and re-write and edit, because there are more I need to add. For example, Emma made the friends look bad who took her to the Cirque Du Soliel by claiming that they were talking all through the performance, and everyone around them was staring and poor Emma was so embarrassed to be sitting with them. Now, this kind of like didn’t really hurt anyone. It gave Emma a great story to tell and made her look good, but it wasn’t true. This is just one characteristic I saw so often in Emma. Emma lied about others in order to make herself look good.

I don’t know why recently, but another one of Emma’s lies that I hadn’t written about popped into my head recently. It had to do with the grandmother of one kids from Emma’s youth group, Rob Simmons. Emma sometimes had a crush on Rob, and I think he may have had a crush on her at times. Rob was a nice kid and Phill and I got to know him helping with some of the youth events, carpooling, and having him over at our house.

I don’t remember what the need was, but Kathryn, Rob’s grandmother asked Emma about the two of us helping with some volunteer something or other, but it was on a Saturday, and Emma told Kathryn that we volunteered with pet adoptions on Saturdays, so we could not help. Then, when Emma told me about the conversation, she told me that Kathryn made a comment about how could could use to volunteer with things around the church a little more, and the whole thing makes me laugh now. Emma got the response from me that she wanted. I don’t remember what I said, but I was a little annoyed that Kathryn dare criticize where and when I spend my time volunteering. For whatever reason, Emma wanted to portray Kathryn in a bad light, or to make me not like her, I suppose.

Now, it just seems funny because if you met Kathyrn, she was such a classy lady, I could not have ever pictured her saying anything like this. Kathryn was well educated, worked in education, and even in her 70’s was still working as a consultant. She was always well dressed and seemed to have endless energy, even with arthritis and some of the difficulties of old age, and was always busy and involved in church activities. And, Kathryn was polite and kind, and I never heard her utter negative word about anyone.

For whatever reason, just like Emma saying all the kids at school were having sex or doing drugs, except Emma, who was saving herself for marriage, Emma had to make those around her look bad in order to make herself look better. Emma, who claimed to have Google in her head, alternated between a superiority complex and playing the victim.

Emma’s friend, Kayla Benifield Weaver, was a sweet girl, but according to Emma, Kayla’s mom and step-dad were frequently drunk, and Kayla’s paternal grandparents, who’d graciously invited Emma to visit them (as Kayla lived with them and not with either of her bio-parents) were described by Emma as “racists” who used the N-word frequently and had all kinds of white supremacist propaganda in their home. Of course these stories did improve if you compare to when Emma was younger and tried to convince me that Kayla’s mom was engaged to Dan Rather. All that practice paid off. Emma became an accomplished liar. She did slip up a little when she started telling people that her mother poisoned her with DDT though. That one was pretty bad and nobody fell for it that I know of, even with her claim of having a toxicology report.

I’ve got to go back and re-read and highlight, but I remember reading in the book, The Sociopath Next-Door, by Martha Stout Ph.d, I think she mentioned something about how to recognize a sociopath was how they were a victim or wanted people to feel sorry for them. Like I said, I need to go back and re-read that book, and use a highlighter, but I remember reading that and thinking (ding, ding, ding, ding), “Yep, that’s Emma, always the victim.”

If you work with the public, or talk to people who work with the public, a lot of people will tell you that there’s a whole lot of undiagnosed mental illness out there. In other words, there are lots of crazy folks. For those of us who follow the rules, we are at a disadvantage. Someone like Emma with her “disregard for the safety of others” has the advantage. That’s how the unsuspecting commuter, waiting for a subway, gets pushed off the platform into the path of the oncoming train. Those of us that follow the rules feel we should be safe, standing, waiting for the subway. It’s the ol’ “do unto others” all over again. We certainly wouldn’t push someone in front of an oncoming train, so we should be able to stand there, perfectly safe, but there are people who don’t live by the same rules. We don’t recognize them, but THEY recognize US. That sweet baby who grew in my belly knows she’s safe. He mother isn’t going to harm her, but those rules only apply to some people, and the sociopath, can push her mother off the subway platform and not feel a thing, except maybe a little excitement. Causing chaos and pain can be fun to watch if you enjoy that sort of thing, and a lot of crazy folks have that need for drama.

I think Emma is what is called a high-functioning sociopath. I’ll let my readers google that one, and just say that that is why so many sociopaths are NOT in jail, where you think they would be. They are smart and know just how to push, manipulate, and control the situation enough and they know just how far they can go before they cross the line into illegal activity, so while they might lie, steal, frame a coworker, etc., they’re going to stop before they go too far.

Until next time, and thanks for reading!

Emma Getting Married—A Mother’s thoughts

Posted on August 15, 2015 by losingemma

If you are new to this blog, you may want to read the posts “In a Nutshell” or go to July 2012 and read “Sending out a Letter.” My daughter Emma Katherine Roey lied about a friend being raped and attempting suicide, claimed to have been molested by a priest, and then, just as her attorneys were about to file a law suit, Emma accused her mother (me) of physically abusing her and later of poisoning her with DDT. Emma claimed to have a toxicology report to confirm that her mother (me, again!) poisoned her, but would never turn over this report to my attorney. If you read through the blog, you will find many other examples of Emma’s lying. At one point, she even complained about the way her dad touched her and that he called her a “bitch” and a “slut” everyday. (I refused to listen to her when she talked about her dad like that.) As long as Emma continues with the lies, I will tell her story. Love and thanks to all of you who read and have written to me. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at: losingemma@gmail.com Please continue to share the blog with others.

Emma and fiance Tyler Albert Buchheim.

Since I won’t be attending Emma’s wedding, I couldn’t help making a few bridal pictures. Emma Roey, Emma Katherine Roey, Emma Kate Roey

For those of you attending Emma’s wedding, I hope everyone knows it is still Sept. 19, 2015, but the location has changed from Port Girardeau, MO to Santa Rosa, CA. Gee, I feel sorry for the people who go their plane tickets already  (wink wink) Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s an Ohio wedding?

In 2012, I heard Emma was engaged to Tyler Buchheim, an architecture student from West Chester Township, Ohio, who attended Notre Dame University and whom Emma had met on line. I had mixed feelings. She was 19, and too young and immature to be engaged, and Tyler was her first boyfriend, but I was also saddened, no, heartbroken, that I didn’t hear about Emma meeting Tyler, falling in love, etc. from Emma. I felt like in addition to all I’d missed with Emma starting college, I’d missed hearing about something else that was so special in Emma’s life. She’s my daughter, and even with all the horrible things she’s done, I do love her, and I want to see her happy and to have a normal life, even though now I don’t think that is possible. Emma will never have a “normal” life.

I was sad at the thought of missing all the wedding things with Emma like seeing her walk down the aisle to marry the man she loves, helping her with arrangements, going dress shopping, attending her shower, etc.

Since I won’t be attending Emma’s wedding, I couldn’t help making a few bridal pictures. Emma Roey, Emma Katherine Roey, Emma Kate Roey

Of course, later on, I was to find out that there was no engagement, according to Tyler’s mom, Sherry Buchheim, who e-mailed me several times and told me that Tyler was not ready to get in engaged, etc. Who knows, maybe Sherry was lying to cover up for Emma. I don’t know, and it doesn’t really matter. I still find it odd that a family from Ohio would let their son’s girlfriend move from Georgia to Ohio, to move in with the boyfriend’s grandparents, if the relationship was not fairly serious. They’d even taken Emma on vacation to Hilton Head and even had professional pictures made of Emma and Tyler.

I felt obligated to warn Tyler’s family about what they were getting into, and saw no point in e-mailing a young man who was in love. Who would he believe? His girlfriend? Or her mother whom he’d never met? Instead, I contacted Tyler’s mother, Sherry Buchheim, and told her briefly what Emma had done. I gave her my name, address, phone number and e-mail address and told her I would be happy to answer any questions she might have. (I’ve already written about this, so dear readers, you can go back and read about “Bud the Boyfriend” to get the full story about Emma and Tyler Buchheim.) I knew that Emma marrying anyone was going to be a disaster.

Since I won’t be attending Emma’s wedding, I couldn’t help making a few bridal pictures. Emma Roey, Emma Katherine Roey, Emma Kate Roey

Now, when I think about Emma getting married, it just makes me sad for her. What kind of marriage can she have? But then again, I am glad Emma’s getting married. She won’t be able to hide her crazy (with apologies to Miranda Lambert—I love that song!) forever, and once the newness and excitement wears off, and the young groom is close to Emma, living with her day in and day out, her husband is going to see that something’s not right. Eventually, the marriage will end in disaster, but of course, nothing will be Emma’s fault.

I was discussing this with a friend, who knew Emma a few years ago, and I guess after everything Phill and Emma put me through, I’ve come a long way. I was telling her that I don’t even feel like I’m missing anything by not attending Emma’s wedding because I feel like the whole thing is such a farce. Her marriage is just the countdown until the first divorce. Or, as my friend put it, it’s the countdown until the next train wreck.

Emma will have her wedding day, her pretty dress, her handsome groom, her wedding gifts, her honeymoon, and she will be the star of the show. But just wait until Act Two.

Special thanks to Face in Hole for the fun website! Emma and I used to do those Jib Jab things where you put the face in (or the dog’s face!) and when I saw this site, I thought this was the kind of thing we would have sat there and played with, laughing hysterically as we made funny pictures.

Since I won’t be attending Emma’s wedding, I couldn’t help making a few bridal pictures. This one reminds me of Hillary Clinton. Sorry, Emma, I know you would hate that comparison! Emma Roey, Emma Katherine Roey, Emma Kate Roey

Letters to “Lacey” Part 13: The Great Iris Folding Escapade!

Posted on April 15, 2015 by losingemma

Emma watches tv with one of our dogs and a foster dog. Emma Kate Roey, Emma Roey, Emma Katherine Roey

May 31, 2009 Four days after the last letter, Emma starts another. She tells “Lacey” that she didn’t have time to write yesterday. She volunteered at PetsMart and then went to church. She says she ran into C. (the neighbor girl Emma accused of drug use, being promiscuous, and of having an abortion and possibly a 2nd pregnancy) and C. really ticked Emma off. Emma knew they were having a party at K’s house (a couple of houses down from our home one Buck Trail in Hoschton) and there was no way Emma was going because she was sure that illegal things were going on, and she didn’t want to hear them and deal with the pressure and backstabbing. Emma says she knows she could resist temptation if she wanted to, but she hates, but is no supposed to because that’s not Christian. She does not like those girls at all, so it’s not worth bothering. C. wanted to know why Emma couldn’t come to the party, so Emma said she was going to do some things with our church to get ready for an event tomorrow, and C. said, “Oh, I’m sorry.” In a really snobby tone. Emma says she told C. off and that she is so tired of C. making fun of her religion and of “Jesus Freaks.” One of their favorite saying sis “I’m ok with Jesus, I just hate his fan club.” That totally gets Emma because her faith is a huge part of her life, and the girls are rubbing their disapproval in her face. That is totally inappropriate, Emma complains! Emma says this is just one of the many things that proves C. is not the person she thinks she is. Emma says that C. claims to be nonjudgmental. Emma says she honestly just wishes she’d never met C. in the first place and that for some weird reason, C. thinks she is Emma’s best friend. This is not true because Emma doesn’t trust her and never will!

Emma goes on to talk about going to the church to help set up for the Spaghetti Lunch, and then talks about church the next day and then the Spaghetti lunch that followed. Emma was annoyed because a lot of people did not attend the lunch and because they were shorthanded. Emma goes on to say she was talking to Evan (one of the members of the youth group) about pianos and how Evan told her his piano was from the 1880s and was a family heirloom. Emma said she then asked me( her mother) how old our piano was and said that I told her I bought it at a yard sale and complains that I keep saying that when she gets better we would get a new one—“ya, like when I’m in Florida in college….” She complains that there is no rich history to our piano and about the piano being a piece of junk.

(Ok, I have not checked into the story of Evan’s “heirloom” piano. What is it with Emma and “heirlooms?” I sort of doubt this story is true from what I know of Evan’s family, BUT our piano did not come from yard sale. It was an old piano given to me by a friend who no longer wanted it. Yes, it was a piece of junk, and yes it was just fine for Emma to learn on. Emma started piano in kindergarten, but after a few years of lessons, it was such a battle to get her to practice, so we quit. I think it was the summer before she started high school that she started again. Emma was never very serious about piano. She enjoyed the attention she got when she could play church hymms, songs from Phamtom of the Opera and Les Miserables, but she was never a serious music student. It was never my desire to turn her into a musician, but just to maybe give her a little appreciation for music. Had she been serious about it, Phill and I would have definitely encouraged her, but she really liked to play around and have fun, and that was fine too. I’ve been around enough to know that you can’t push kids in to music. I’d seen what Sandra Brooks McCravy went through with her boys. Her parents were very generous to pay for expensive piano lessons, and Derek was very serious about piano, but Johnathan wasn’t. Johnathan played because he was forced to, and eventually he quit and took guitar lessons. Derek played beautiful classical piano and even won a couple hundred dollars in a small scholarship competition. )

Emma complains about cleaning up after the spaghetti lunch that she and one of the younger girls were taking down decorations while some of the other kids (Rob, Nick, Jordan Ari) sat around talking and how she had to go over and tell them that they needed to help. Emma said it’s like she doesn’t want to be seen as controlling…..but the least they can do is help, and how her feet were killing her too, but she did what needed to be done anyway! Emma tells “Lacey” that she was also depressed that Jordan had a party and Ari and Rob were there, but she was not invited, and her mom immediately says, “Did you feel left out?” Emma says it made her realize that in all the times they’ve been friends, “upwards of a decade”, Jordan has never once invited Emma anywhere with her. Emma has had her over and done things with her, but she has never reciprocated. Emma considers Jordan a friend, but does not think Jordan thinks the same about her. In fact, she doesn’t. Emma knows and has known this for a wile, but this was just a blatant slap in the face to tell her this is the way things are and she needs to accept them. So that is her depression in a nutshell.

(Well, I don’t remember what I said, but I know I would have not said, “Do you feel left out?” upon finding my daughter was not invited to a party. I don’t practice that feely-mealy kind of speech. I probably said, “I’m sorry.” I really don’t remember at this point, although I do remember Emma telling me that Jordan had a party and she was not invited. Also, at that point, I think we’d known Jordan’s family for about 5 or so years, not upwards of a decade. I don’t remember exactly, but I think we joined the church when Emma was in 2nd grade. Jordan and her family came some time after we did and then left the church for a couple of years and then returned.)

June 2, 2009

Emma talks about us going to see the movie up with some passes our neighbors gave us for Christmas, and says it is a big deal for us because we only go to a movie maybe once a year, and the only reason we were going was because the were going to expire.

(I don’t recall if the passes were going to expire or not. I’ve received several movie passes as gifts, and I’ve never had any that had expiration dates on them, so this could be a fabrication, but it’s true that we didn’t go to movies very often. We preferred to wait until movies came out on video and we watched them at home.)

Emma tells “Lacey” about delivering flyer in the neighborhood for her pet sitting service.

(Emma had a homeschool assignment to make a flyer, so I suggested pet sitting since that was something she could do to earn some money. She did a great job and earned over $300 just before she went on the mission trip with Eternal Hope of Haiti.)

Emma says that the song, “After the World” by Disciple is stuck in her head right now…

You break the glass

Try to hide your face Recorded lines

That just will not erase

And buried in Your loss of innocence

You wonder if You’ll find it again

Emma says she doen’t even have a particular meaning or connection to this one, it just keeps playing through her head with no signs of impending relief. Oh well, it’s not nearly as bad as some of the stuff Jordan’s had stuck in her head….it’s like a reflex, comparing herself to Jordan. She can’t help it. So many memories….ok, trying not to get depressed…totally not working….*sigh*. Emma says she doesn’t know where she would be without “Lacey”. Jordan is gone and kayla is in Toccoa or France (and totally inaccessible regardless). Facebook is normally an encouragement, but she’s looking at her profile and “Emma has 42 friends”, oh ya right. Emma talks about receiving a friend request from a boy she knew when she attended George Walton Academy in Monroe, Ga. She remembers how in kindergarten, he was that boy Ms. McPheeters could never wake up from rest time. Emma talks about her fish Zorro and says she worries that her parents might let him starve while she is gone. She says everyone would think she was crazy or she’d beg to bring him on the mission trip with the youth group, but she doubts the youth group leader would go for that. Poor Fishie.

(Phill and I always took pretty good care of our pets, so I think this “Poor Fishie” is just idle chatter. Emma needed something to say. I can’t imagine Emma actually believed we would not take care of her fish while she was gone. As any parent knows, when a child has a pet, it’s the parents who are the ones to care for it.) ############################################################################################################################################################ Now for one of my favorite parts:

The iris folding card Emma and I made. Apparently, I did pretty good for a crippled old arthritic mother! Emma Roey, Emma Kate Roey, Emma Katherine Roey

The iris folding cards Emma and I made. Apparently, I did pretty good for a crippled old arthritic mother! Emma Roey, Emma Kate Roey, Emma Katherine Roey

Emma talks about teaching her mom iris folding like she used on the card she’d recently sent to “Lacey”. Emma says she loves her mom, but it is sooooo hard to teach her because she has arthritis in her hands and is sooo slow. It’s like she could do this ten times faster and not waste half the material she does, but it’s really important for her to do it herself. And on top of that, she gets angry when Emma tries to keep her from making mistakes. She wants to do it her way, but she will get really frustrated when hers don’t turn out as nicely as Emma’s do because she refuses to take Emma’s advice , which she gives in a very respectful tone that still get labeled “smart-a**”). It gets Emma so frustrated because it’s not even fun for her anymore, and what’s worse is when her mother wants to help with Emma’s projects, but she invariabley ruins them!! So Emma tries to work on things when she’s not home.

(I have to admit, when I first read this story about the iris folding, I was very hurt. Here it is a few years down the road and it’s no longer painful, but it’s funny in a pathetic sort of way. An imaginary twist of events from a sick mind. A few years before, I’d taken Emma to Michael’s on a Saturday for one of their $2 kid’s projects. They were doing Iris folding cards, and Emma made one. I think it was a Thanksgiving turkey if I remember correctly. She really enjoyed it, so later on we got her supplies and she started making these cards. She really enjoyed it and we bought more and more supplies for her. She had a ton of card making supplies. For those of you who may not know what Iris Folding is, it is simply folding strips of paper and laying them down, overlapping. It is quite simple to do. I always enjoyed seeing what Emma made, and said one day I’d like to try it with her. Emma was anxious to teach me, so when my niece was expecting her 2nd baby, and we found out it was a boy, we decided to sit down and make some cards. Emma wanted to make a baby boy card, and I just wanted to give it a try. I’d taught Emma so many things over the years, especially with my beadwork, she seemed to really enjoy teaching me her hobby. We had a lovely afternoon sitting, chatting, and working on our cards. It is still a sweet memory of some mother-daughter time. Funny how my memories of that day differ so widely from Emma’s, but then I’m the one Emma accuses of “blocking things out.” Uh, ok. I also find it pathetic that Emma that Emma claims I wanted to help her with her projects. Of course, since we homeschooled, I had to be in charge of school, but once we were done with that, Emma was on her own with her little arts and crafts. If she asked me for help, I certainly would, but as a homeschooling mom who spent at least 40 hours a week on school and then add to that cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, yardwork, church activities, my part time job, taking care of the dogs, volunteering with the rescue…… I certainly wasn’t interested in taking over Emma’s little projects. It sure makes a good story though, doesn’t it. St. Emma has the patience of Job taking the time to teach her poor crippled mother how to fold paper! Oh, and did I mention I do not have arthritis in my hands? Funny how Emma doesn’t let the little details get in the way of her stories. In full disclosure, I do have osteoarthritis in on shoulder due to a repetitive motion injury, but other than that, no arthritis anywhere.) ##################################################################################################################################################################################################################### ################################################################################################################################################################################################################################### Emma tells “Lacey” about getting her HepA shot for going to Haiti, and then complains about seeing a little boy down the street who noticed her bandaid and asked what color lollipop she got for her shot. Emma says she feels so ripped off for getting painful foreign toxins injected into her body and she doesn’t even get a piece of candy! Sooo not fair! Emma signs off saying this letter is kind of short.

And just a personal note for Emma: I hope you and Daddy have a wonderful time at SEFF! Looks like the rain should clear up enough for the event! In telling the story about the iris folding, I got to thinking ab out when we were homeschooling and how I would keep some beadwork on the porch to work on because I couldn’t leave you alone to do your schoolwork. You sat out there and read books if I left the room. Remember when you cut the little purple amulet bag I was making? You denied and denied it, but I knew you did it. It was a perfect little scissor cut, and you and I were the only ones home. You were mad a me over something so you destroyed my project. Funny how you accused ME of taking over YOUR projects! Also, I was thinking about the time our friends who were down at the Holland School came by to visit, and one of them bought A $30 bead from me and I tucked the money under my desk blotter like it always did with money, checks, or important papers. Then the money disappeared, and you denied taking it. I know you did it Emma. I just didn’t know what to do when you denied, denied, denied, so I let it go. Love you sweetie, have a good time in Americus!

Letters to “Lacey” Part 2 (updated 1/13–see note at bottom)

Posted on January 11, 2015 by losingemma

If you are new to this blog, you may want to read the posts “In a Nutshell” or go to July 2012 and read “Sending out a Letter.” My daughter Emma Katherine Roey lied about a friend being raped and attempting suicide, claimed to have been molested by a priest, and then, just as her attorneys were about to file a law suit, Emma accused her mother (me) of physically abusing her and poisoning her with DDT. Emma claimed to have a toxicology report to confirm that her mother (me, again!) poisoned her, but would never turn over this report to my attorney. Emma still claims to have health problems because of this “poisoning.” As long as Emma continues with the lies, I will tell her story. Love and thanks to all of you who read and have written to me. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at: losingemma@gmail.com Please continue to share the blog with others
Emma, on the way to a Blessing of the Animals service at our church.

Emma, on the way to a Blessing of the Animals service at our church. Emma Roey, Emma Katherine Roey, Emma Kate Roey

May 19, 2009
Emma begins this letter with “Hey Lacey!” in a cute font and then switches to something more readable. She starts out saying what a day it was because we went to her friend’s funeral. (The young man Emma calls a friend whom she probably said hello to maybe twice in 10 years.) Then she goes on to talk about (names changed) seeing a boy she babysat for named Jason with another boy she babysat, Gage. She goes up to them and asks Jason if he is having fun. Jason tells her that Gage doesn’t understand that everyone is sad because Ollie (name changed for young man who died) didn’t wake up, and she hugged Jason and they both cried. Great story, only it probably didn’t happen as Emma was glued to my side the whole time we were at the home after the funeral AND Emma NEVER babysat Jason.

Emma goes on to say that that was nothing compared to the next day when she happened to be babysitting Jason (7 yrs) and his brother Conner (5 yrs) the following day. She said she got there at 9am and Cooner wasn’t awake yet so she went in to check on him at 10am and could tell he wasn’t asleep, so she said, “Come on, Conner! Breakfast time!” Conner didn’t open his eyes and told her he wasn’t getting up. When he said it, he called her, “Miss Em.” Emma told him that yes he was and they would go to the lake after breakfast. Conner tells her that he was going to sleep until he woke up with Ollie.

Emma tells “Lacey” how she totally lost it and picked up and held Conner in his arms and cried. Then she saw Jason standing in the doorway, and he came over and sat on the bed, putting his arm around Emma, saying “It’s ok, Miss Em. He didn’t mean it. Miss Em? It’s ok.” Emma says they must have been quite a sight. (Great story! Sadness, tears, the cute kid thing! Only thing is that I have a documented statement from Jason and Conner’s mom that Emma NEVER babysat for them! Also, another point to bring up would be that at the funeral or at Ollie’s home (I don’t remember which) a neighbor, who had several children that Ollie played with, told a similar story about his little boy waking up and asking about Ollie, and he went on to tell about the conversation he had with his son about Ollie’s death. Emma creatively stole this story and turned it into her own about Jason and Conner.)

Then Emma tells Lacey how she’s done with the depressing stuff now. She talks about the youth group lock-out at the church and how much fun she had. She goes on about her friend Jordan’s cousin Olivia who Emma says she hit it off with right away. She tells some silly stories about the lock-out (maybe true, maybe not, maybe greatly exaggerated) and then goes on about how Olivia’s uncle killed himself the November before, and how Emma and Olivia stayed up talking about very late talking about her uncles suicide for three hours. (I never looked into whether or not this story was true or not. I still have Jordan’s mother’s phone number, so I could call and verify, but I don’t care enough to bother. I’m just going to bet this was another one of Emma’s creations.)

Emma goes on to talk about her friend Jordan throwing herself at rob and looking like an idiot, and how Jordan was mad at her. Then Emma has a pity party about how she and Jordan used to be close but weren’t anymore, and Jordan was the only girlfriend she had and knowing she lost her hurt. What’s kind of funny here is that Emma adds, “And I’ve never had a close relationship with my mom.” I know this was said out of teen angst and for drama, and now it’s just kind of funny as well as sad. Emma and I did almost everything together. Even at the age of 16 we would read a book together (usually I was the one who read aloud), she snuggled up to me to watch tv and usually wanted me to put my arm around her or she would hold my hand. I taught her my hobby (beadwork) and we worked on projects together. Emma talked to me about everything from books to current events to the boys she liked. She frequently told her dad we were having “girl time” if she was talking to me and he walked in the room, and she made him leave the room. Up until she was 16 years old, Emma frequently slept in my bed when her dad was on the road. She only quit because she complained that I got up to early in the morning and it disturbed her when I let the dogs out, took a shower, etc. The women in our bible study group were shocked by Emma’s actions. Frequently at our group, Emma wanted to sit by me and snuggled up against me. Ask any homeschooling mom, and they will tell you that to get out for a couple of hours among other adults, as a mom, the last person you want to sit with or talk to after being with them all day every day, is your kid. I was happy to get to visit with others, but Emma was usually right there with me even then, or as a friend in the group so bluntly put it, “She was always up your ass!!” (I love you. You know who you are.) Nope! Emma and I never had a close relationship.
Then Emma states that she’s sort of depressed, not as in suicidal, just unhappy and adds a great big “*SIGH.*” (Maybe one of the side effects of DDT poisoning is depression?)

Emma gets back on the topic of what fun she had at the youth group lock out and how she played a trick on Ms. Karen, the youth group leader, when she pretended to burn her hand in the fire. (Cute story, and yes, she actually did this, but may have exaggerated some of the details.)

Next Emma goes into how she was looking through the bible and found that the universal call to worship, Psalm 117 is the shortest Psalm and the longest one is 176 verses, and says ok, she finds strange ways to occupy her time.

Next Emma talks about how very honored she was after church when Elizabeth, a little girl from the Sunday school class Emma assisted with wanted to sit with her during coffee hour, and how after church, Elizabeth’s mom cam running out to our van and said Elizabeth wouldn’t stop crying because she hadn’t hugged “Miss Em” goodbye. (Actually, Phill, Emma and I were walking out to the van at the same time Elizabeth’s family was leaving and Elizabeth did want to hug any goodbye, but there was no crying. This story sort of happened, but not quite the way Emma wrote it. Emma goes on to say how Elizabeth just loves her and would come home with her, and how Elizabeth adores Emma, whom she sees for two hours a week, but misbehaves for her parents, so see why she doesn’t want kids? (Kind of like Emma?)

Emma tells a few more cute stories about school, the neighborhood, and shares a quote she likes, “Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car, in case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing right in your ear.”
Emma also mentions how she’s been singing Praise you in This Storm (Casting Crowns) and types out the lyric in a curly-que font just in case “Lacey” hasn’t heard it:

I was sure by now
God, You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say “Amen” and it’s still raining
So I will praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I cry
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm….

Blessings and love from Emma-Kate

Note: If you are a regular reader to this blog, you have already noticed, but since I seem to be picking up new folks who maybe haven’t had time to go through the whole thing, I will mention it here. Above, I wrote about Emma taking the story of the neighbor and his little boy after Ollie’s funeral and turning it into a story about herself. This seems to be a theme with Emma and you will see it over and over again in the blog. One prime example is when Emma claimed to have babysat and had to call 911 and lock herself in the bathroom because one of the children, who happens to be bipolar, was so out of control. Emma HEARD the story about the parents having to call 911 on their bipolar son because he was out of control. This did happen, but not to Emma.
I don’t know if there is a name for this kind of behavior. It is useful for writing fiction, but not in real life, and not when you make innocent people your victims. I wonder if Dr Richard Born (Applied Psychological Health, Athens, Ga. http://www.appliedpsychhealth.com ), Genie Burnett (Manna Treatment, Duluth, Ga. http://www.mannatreatment.com ) or Suzie McGarvey (North Gwinnett Counseling Associates http://www.ngcounselingassociates.com , formerly with Lanier Counseling http://www.laniercounseling.com ) or maybe even Emma’s therapists at the Social Empowerment Center http://www.socialempowermentcenter.com Rachelle Hutchinson, Emily Kirby, Candace Whitman, Lori McCarthy or even Emma’s DEFACS caseworker Alicia Yearwood and Maria Wyatt (I will have to double check that last name, but I believe that was it.) could shed some light on this for us. A girl can’t have too many therapists.

Temporary Protective Order (Preface)

Posted on July 12, 2014 by losingemma

*****UPDATED and EDITED AUG. 3, 2014******

(If you are new to this blog, you may want to read the posts “In a Nutshell” or go to July 2012 and read “Sending out a Letter.” Both of these posts give a brief description of what happened. As Emma’s mom, I am blogging my experiences with Emma and the things she did/does. This is a child who made up a story about rape, accused a priest of molesting her, and then as her attorney was about to file a lawsuit against the priest and the church, Emma accused her mother of physical abuse to stop the lawsuit because she knew her lies were about to be discovered. Emma was recently living at the home of her fiance’s grandparents, attending Wright State University http://www.wright.edu/, majoring in counseling, and talking about getting married to T., an architecture student at Notre Dame. Emma claims to have the TOXICOLOGY REPORT to prove that her mother poisoned her with DDT and that she had to move to get away from her mother. (My attorney has been waiting for over a year for that toxicology report! And the funny thing is that Emma’s dad knows she’s said this but refuses to address it.) Emma also claimed her future mother-in-law lives in fear that Emma’s mother will show up and kill her entire family, although I heard from this lady that she feared no such thing. While in Ohio, Emma began telling stories about T’s family, making herself the victim again, but since she didn’t have her mother to be the persecutor, Emma began saying hurtful things about T’s mother, sister, and grandparents. In Sept. of last year, T. broke up with Emma, deciding he had doubts about her. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me at: losingemma@gmail.com

Christmas 2006
Emma Roey

TPO

There are two dates that will live in infamy in my own little war. One is March 14, 2011, which I think of as Emma’s Emancipation Day, and the other is April 7, 2011, the day my loving husband took out a Temporary Protective Order against me, and two officers from the sheriff’s department showed up at my door and told me I had to leave my home. I am going to tell the story of these two dates and I will publish the TPO and go through it page by page. This will take a while, so bear with me.

March 14, 2011

After Emma pulled her little “abused child” stunt at Christmas to stop the law suit that her attorneys were about to file against the priest that Emma claimed molested her (as well as a suit against the church and the diocese), we were all about therapy. We were enmeshed in therapy. We were covered up in therapy. Therapy was our life. Last I heard, Emma was majoring in “counseling.” Ironic, isn’t it?

Just before Emma accused me of abuse, she’d stopped seeing Dr. Genie Burnett at Manna Treatment and Counseling http://www.mannatreatment.com and started seeing Suzie McGarvey at Lanier Counseling http://www.laniercounseling.com (now with North Gwinnett Counseling Associates http://www.ngcounselingassociates.com ). I had taken Emma to meet a few counselors, and Suzie was the one she liked best. Suzie was originally from Ohio, Catholic, married to a financial planner, and had two little girls. Suzie even brought her two girls, along with their Labradoodle, to a “Pet Photos with Santa” fundraiser that Emma and I worked at for the rescue. I still have photos of the girls with Santa and their dog.

Because of DFACS involvement, we were also seeing some therapists that contracted with DFACS, the Social Empowerment Center http://www.socialempowermentcenter.com (Lori McCarthy, Rachelle D. Hutchinson, Emily Kirby, Candace Whitman and Tamesha —sorry, Tamesha, I can’t remember your last name.) Emma was also talking with her high school counselor, Heather Thompson at Jefferson High School http://www.jeffcityschools.org. We had PLENTY of therapy going on. Emma got LOTS of attention, and was talking to therapists at least three times a week. She didn’t really make any friends at school, but she had plenty of therapists to talk to.

If I remember right, Emma was seeing Suzie McGarvey once a week, and then we were also doing family therapy at least every other week. The weekend before Emma’s March 14th appointment, she had asked me if just she and daddy could go to therapy. At first I said fine, but then said no because we were working on therapy as a family, and we all needed to go.

On March 14, I had a doctor’s appointment, so Phill took Emma to therapy, and I headed to Lanier Counseling after my doctor’s appointment to join them. When I walked into the waiting room, Phill was there, and Emma was in the office with Suzie McGarvey for her private therapy session. Phill and I sat and talked for a bit, and we’d each brought something to read while we waited.

When it was time for family therapy, Suzie came out and asked Phill to come in, but wanted me to stay in the waiting room. Ok, fine. After a few minutes, Phill came out and I asked him what was going on. He said Emma wanted to say something to him, but she didn’t want him to tell me, and he told her that he wouldn’t agree to that. He took my hand and held it, and said he wasn’t going to keep any secrets from me.

Suzie McGarvey came out again and asked Phill to come back in to her office. He went, and I sat there and waited and waited and waited. I remember at 35 minutes past our appointment time thinking we would not have much time for our family appointment, and then finally Suzie McGarvey called me in.
I walked in and sat on the sofa. Emma was at one end, Phill was in the middle, and I sat next to him on the other end. To be honest, I was so shocked and stunned by what I heard next, I know my memories of the details are a little fuzzy.

Suzie, Emma’s counselor who’d told Phill and I that we were only the 2nd couple she felt she could trust with her own children, and who’d told me that she wanted to have all Emma’s therapists “circle the wagons” to sort of call Emma out on her B.S., told me that Emma wanted to live in a group home to get away from me, and we needed to separate. After that is where it gets fuzzy. I couldn’t belive what I was hearing. Emma was accusing me of abuse, claiming I would shove or shake her and then block it out. The whole story was so bizarre. Later, I said over and over that I felt like I’d been run over by a truck. I was completely blindsided by what Emma did and what was to come. I think I was in shock at the ridiculousness of it all for a long time.

Part of what shocked me was that I was also Suzie McGarvey’s client, and I felt very betrayed by her blindsiding me like this. After Emma had accused me of “physical abuse” just before Christmas, she spent a week at Peachford Hospital (a mental health facility, or mental hospital), and then she finally came home. We met with Suzie to discuss therapy, family therapy, Phill and I meeting privately with Suzie, and me meeting privately with Suzie. I’ve been told this is a conflict of interest, that Suzie should not have been my therapist and Emma’s therapist, but I don’t know. I did send a letter to the Georgia Board of Examiners of Psychologists and Therapists, but never got to speak to an actual person and got the standard letter back saying they weren’t going to do anything…

I was ready to let Emma live in a group home, but Phill wasn’t. I thought this child needed to see how other people lived and then maybe it would sink in that she had it pretty darned good! I don’t remember a lot of what else that was said. I was shocked and cried and asked Emma why she was doing this. Mostly , she would not look me in the eye, but at one point she said in such a cold, hateful tone, “Mother, I love you, but you have a problem.” Well, for Emma to call me “Mother” meant something right there. Emma NEVER called me mother unless she was being sarcastic. She called me “Mom” or “Mommy” or “Maise.” She did not call me “Mother.”

Sometime before this session, I met privately with Suzie McGarvey, and I remember telling her about one morning when I told Emma to hurry because we needed to leave for school, and she screamed at me, “I’M TIRED OF PEOPLE TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!!!” Well, Emma took control and made sure that no one was going to be telling her what to do anymore.

I didn’t know what to do. Here was our therapist telling me I could not live in my home with my daughter. Being Emma’s mom, her interests came first. I knew she had to go to school, so I said I would go stay with a friend for a few days while we got this straightened out. It was more important to me that Emma stay in the home so that she could go to school and continue with all the things she needed to do. Emma had missed a lot of school in 9th grade due to her vomiting issues (when I was supposedly poisoning her with DDT) and I knew we needed to keep her in school.

I went home and packed a suitcase and went to the home of my friend, Janice for a few days. Poor Janice. Emma stayed with her for a few days at Christmas when she was in DFACS custody, and now I was staying with her. Unfortunately, Emma acted horribly at Janice’s, and I felt bad that Janice was dragged into our family problems yet again, but she is a true friend and was there for me once again. I was pretty much a wreck the whole time I was there. I did a lot of crying. I was in total shock by what my child had done.

I don’t remember when I came home. It may have been on the weekend. I do remember that it was another friend’s birthday on March 16th, and Phill and I went to her home to take her a bottle of wine, but I don’t remember what day we went, and I don’t know where Emma was staying then. She ended up staying with neighbors like old friends Ann and Jack Verner, our neighbors John and Judy Hall (Phill did a lot of computer work for the Halls, erasing hard drives, when their daughter was going through a divorce. Their story is almost as interesting as mine, and I’ll share it after I get the TPO posted.) and Cora and Randall Andrews, and some RC friends of Phill’s, Mike and Wendy Timms.

Recently, my friend’s husband brought up that day Phill and I took the bottle of wine over for my friend’s birthday. Phill talked to them about how we needed to get Emma home and straighten her out. My friend’s husband brought up how he never understood how Phill was so supportive of me when we stopped by, and then a few days later he would turn against me.

Sometime, while I was staying with Janice, Phill completely changed his tone. I have no idea what Emma said or what Suzie McGarvey may have said, but all of a sudden, my husband and best friend of nearly 30 years decided I was a child abuser.

I came home from Janice’s, and Emma was staying at John and Judy Hall’s, and she was to be off the next week for Spring Break. Phill wanted me gone so Emma could be home with Emma. Emma and I had planned on visiting a friend in N.C. over Spring Break, so I decided to go alone, and that way we wouldn’t have to find places to for Emma to stay. Of course, at this point, I thought we were still going to work on things as a family, but Phill had already decided what he was going to do, and while I was in N.C. crying my heart out every day, Phill and Emma went to see a divorce attorney named Seth Eisenberg at Bovis, Kyle, and Birch LLC in Atlanta. I remember looking up the website at some point, and it advertised divorce for dads. I recently looked it up again, and it appears Mr. Eisenberg may not work for Bovis, Kyle, and Birch anymore. I didn’t see his name anyway.

(Mr. Eisenberg was the attorney who later told my attorney that he thought Emma was crazy, that she ran the show, and that Phill didn’t come see him without bringing Emma. My attorney also confided in me that Mr. Eisenberg told him that every time they came in, Emma brought up the subject of a restraining order, really wanting to get a restraining order against me. At some point, Mr. Eisenberg told my attorney that he would handle Phill’s divorce, but he wanted nothing to do with “that kid.”)
While I was in N.C., Phill and Emma were having plenty of quality daddy/daughter time and doing things like going out to eat (something Emma loved to do because I tried to cook fairly healthy) and on little adventures like to the Atlanta Aquarium. I was very disappointed when I found out they went without me as that had been something we talked about doing as a family. We had been, a few years before, to the TN Aquarium and had a wonderful visit there. I still haven’t been to the Atlanta Aquarium. Maybe that’s something I should plan on doing soon.
While I was in N.C., I decided I was not going to be run out of my home. I had been attending a Bible Study group with Emma at the church we had recently changed to, Holy Trinity Anglican Church http://www.holytrinityflowerybranch.org/ in Flowery Springs, Ga. I enjoyed the study and the group of ladies and decided I was not going to miss our Wed. night session on the count of my lying daughter. It was my home, and I belonged at home. If Emma had a problem living in our home, she could go somewhere else.
Phill was furious with me for ruining his week. He had taken vacation time to take the week off and be with Emma, just like he had taken his vacation time when Emma pulled her DFACS stunt at Christmas.
I don’t remember if I came home that Tues. or Wed., but I had wanted to be home Wednesday evening to go to church. As it ended up, our Bible study was canceled, so I didn’t go after all, but Phill was furious with me for coming home. I think Emma stayed with Judy and John Hall that night, but I don’t really remember. I was still in shock over what was going on, but I was determined to stand up for myself.
The next morning, Thursday, April 7th, 2011, after barely speaking to me for the past couple of weeks, Phill was all interested in what I was doing that day. I later figured he needed to know my schedule so he could have the Temporary Protective order served. He wanted to know exactly where I was going and how long I’d be gone and if I was coming home after that…
When Emma was vomiting frequently, I had thought of trying a Yoga class, thinking it might help Emma relax. We only had gone a few times, and I really enjoyed it, but Emma not so much. Emma was very critical of things that were not Christian, and as much as I hate to say it, she was pretty closed minded about a lot of things. “Namaste” did not sound Christian enough for her, and Emma was pretty judgmental about Yoga although she knew very little about it. I found that I really liked how I felt after a class after all the stretching and then the relaxing at the end of class. Emma was also very competitive, and although I was 50 and not in particularly good shape, I could do the poses and stretches better, and the teacher was frequently helping or correcting Emma. When Emma got home from the psych hospital and started back to school, I continued to go to Yoga about once a week without her. Had she wanted to stick with it, I’d have made an effort to take her to an evening class, but she was not interested.
That Thursday, I decided to go to Yoga. Phill asked what time the class was and if I was coming home after that. It turned out that he took Emma to the court house with him to take out the TPO and then drove Emma to Chamblee, Ga, to the home of some old friends, Ann and Jack Verner. I had been friends with Ann’s daughter, Kathy, since high school, and she was Emma’s Godmother, but we’d lost touch over the past few years after Kathy left her husband who told Phill and I that Kathy had been having some affairs. Emma really couldn’t stand to have anything to do with Kathy, and when Kathy was living with her girl/boyfriend Andrea/Jason (It gets very confusing, but Andrea was going through a sex change to become Jason.) Kathy had a little birthday party/open house at their new home. Emma absolutely refused to go, and Phill was working, so since it was on the way, I dropped Emma off at Sandra Brooks McCravy’s house in Lawrenceville, Ga. on my way to Kathy’s. Sandi said Emma could stay with her while I went to Kathy’s. I stayed for a short visit at Kathy’s new home, and then went back to pick up Emma. Emma would not have anything to do with Kathy and refused to accept Kathy as a friend on her facebook up until she pulled the abused child act and then all of a sudden, Kathy was fine to have as a friend again.
Emma once again got to play the victim and was treated as the house guest at the Verner’s home. I don’t remember what all they did, but even with the trauma of being an abused child, Emma put pictures on her facebook of her visit. I have a cute one of her and one of Ann and Jack’s granddaughters

Losing Emma

Tag Archives: Lori McCarthy