Having been reduced by Judge Loyd H. Little, Jr., Billy Burgess and Dora Boston Heisey to being no more than a meal ticket and visitor in my son's life is the most disheartening and discouraging thing that has ever happened to me as a dad and a human being. The message sent to me is that my involvement in my son’s life is irrelevant.

More importantly and worrisome is the message and example being displayed to our son that his dad is a secondary parent, irrelevant to his growth and development, and that later in life if he becomes a dad the example will likely perpetuate itself over again with our son having been taught his role as a dad is secondary and irrelevant to his own children’s growth and development.

I have grown up without a dad in my life. I know first hand how the void caused by this lives forever in my life. I have lived now for 39 years without a dad to talk to, to turn to for advice, share stories, be given guidance through life, to be shown love, to have no one to give a card or present to on Father's Day, and to have no dad to take my son to and share their grandchild with.

The very things I have missed out on, I have worked hard to provide my son: love from his dad, talks, support, discipline when necessary, encouragement, hugs, smiles, laughs, jokes, throwing the football together, helping coach his t-ball teams, watching him at school programs, picking him up and taking him to school on his first day and many other days, making sure my son knows how much I love him and that I am there for him through everything and that he can accomplish anything he wants in this life. I want to be there for him and his children in the future.

Statistics show that by removing, or reducing, my role in my son's life, Judge Little, Billy Burgess and Dora Boston Heisey have significantly increased the chances my son will drop out of school, become an unwed teenage parent, become involved in more crime or mischief, increase in suicide risk, have behavior issues at school or outside of school, increased the likelihood of my son using or abusing drugs and alcohol, be subject to child abuse, have mental problems, have trouble establishing appropriate sex roles and gender identity, increase the parental alienation syndrome, increase the chances of obesity and so many more potential problems simply by removing or reducing my involvement in my son's life.

From the day in April 1999 that my ex-wife chose to dissolve our family and marriage, file for divorce, the statement I made to her then and still to this day is that I would take care of any and every need my son had and for her to simply allow me to see my son as I should be able to for his benefit and mine.

I have been fighting for this simple request for now over 9 years.

Overall, the saddest thing about this is that my story, our story, is just one of thousands.

Help my son have what he and many other children deserve - a loving dad.

                                                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                                                Chris Hobbs