By SOME KERNELS OF TRUTH Sept. 23, 2014
POMONA, NY — Area resident Linda Wilson is facing criticism for notifying her 8-year-old son Michael of her upcoming divorce from his father via a text message.
“When I read that text, I couldn’t believe it. Her son was right there on the message! That’s just so wrong,” said Maria Cooper, a close friend of Wilson’s who received the message. “I wrote about it on Facebook and before I knew it, everyone was agreeing with me and telling her the same thing,” Cooper said.
Despite the criticism she received, Wilson says she sees nothing wrong with the message she sent on Saturday, September 13 to close friends and family.
“There were so many people I had to tell, it just made sense to do it with a group message. And I didn’t feel right leaving my son out of that,” Wilson told reporters. “Maybe if he’d been home I would have told him directly, but he was at his friend’s house. I had no choice,” she said, adding that she worded the text very carefully. “You can see for yourself; heck, you can put it in the paper for all I care! I did nothing wrong,” Wilson said, granting permission for the text to be reprinted in its entirety.
The message read: “I have some news 4 u all. Me & Joseph — of course that’s ‘Dad’ 2 u, Mikey! — aren’t going 2 stay married. We’re getting a divorce as soon as possible. Sorry 2 text this. I wanted u all 2 know as soon as we decided, but it’s hard 4 us to talk about right now. Writing it is easier. Thanks 4 understanding. Luv u all!”
Wilson says her son was dropped off at her home about an hour later by his friend Aaron’s mother. “The minute she got to the house with him, she lit into me. It was totally uncalled for,” Wilson recalled. “She said Michael had been so upset when he read my text that he couldn’t talk at first. She asked to see what had upset him and he handed her his phone. She said I shouldn’t have done that, but who is she to say that? My son deserved to be part of the message I was sending, plus he loves texting,” Wilson said.
“Besides, I said right there in the text that this was hard for me to talk about! He should understand that,” Wilson added.
Calls to Wilson’s soon-to-be ex-husband were not returned as of press time. Son Michael also declined to comment.
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Note: This is not a real article, as you probably guessed! I wrote it after a friend and I were texting about how parents should and should not break the news to their kids about a divorce. Towards the end of our exchange, I joked that one way parents surely should NOT do so is via a text. We found this ludicrous idea funny and thought it could make a great article for the Onion, similar to pieces like this recent one. My friend said I should write this up and pitch it to them, but they don’t accept freelance submissions. But you know what? There’s no reason I can’t write some spoof articles for my blog; they don’t own the concept of fake, humorous news, AMIRITE?! 🙂 So, hope you enjoyed this!
Some Kernels of Truth 