Mother called yesterday. I did send a card. She asked why I wasn't calling. I told her about the funeral behavior of my

[marble falls]

5. Something's going around. My ex and my favorite daughter are making imanginary claims about me ...

... smacking all my children around, none of the other kids have a clue about what they're talking about. My eldest said I stopped swats when they were 2 or 3 and never screamed at them or laid hands on them, but the ex used mixing spoons on them and screamed at them how much she hated them. She was thrown out of family therapy sessions and was escorted by police out of the hospital where my eldest was after a suicide attempt with Tylenol.

Our biggest arguments were over hitting the kids into their late teens. They've been cut off by the other kids. I will never cut the youngest off though she has cut me off. She insists her mother never hit her, she insists I grabbed her and the eldest by throats. I cannot even figure that one out.

It's just not what I needed going into an imminent third cancer surgery.

Something's going around.

I hope you are able to keep them from stealing your joy.