The Painful Side of Custody Battles

It all started when my mother and my two little brothers and I were living together. I have basically raised my two little brothers their whole entire lives because my mother is the biggest alcoholic known to man. I was 13 when my mother up and left us and moved back in with their father and I moved back in with my grandparents. I graduated high school and got engaged. I then moved in with my fiancee and his dad. After moving out me and my fiancee got a call one day about my brother. It was his probation officer asking me to come and pick my brother up because he was having a hard time at his fathers house. So we go and pick him up and the not even a month later I am going to court to get custody of him.

I got custody and like any other child he did not want to leave his father because it would mean his life would have to change. The day we brought him home was very hard on him because he had to leave his little brother. They have been together their whole lives and I know how hard it is to be taken away from your family. Anyways, I still had to battle his father to keep custody of him until one day. We were having a meeting at his fathers house which was court ordered and all of a sudden his father said he didn't want him back. That he did not want him to step foot in his house again. To my brother that was very hurtful and to this day he hates his father. Now not even 8 months ago I go back to court to get custody of his little brother.

I got custody of him because his fathers wife he met on the Internet and moved her in and she was punching my brother in the back and everything else. So we move my little brother to my house as well and my brothers are together again. On January 31st, we went back to court and I lost custody of my littlest brother back to his father. The only reason why his father wanted custody back of him was because my brother gets two checks a month because he is disabled. Now in my opinion, that is the worst reason someone could want their kid back. Now the arrangements with the court is that I only get to see my littlest brother 4 days out of the month now. It hurt so bad to know that I lost custody of him back to his father and now I do not get to see him but 4 days out of the month. I cried so much when I had to send him back to his father. He is still with his father to this day, but every time I talk to him on the phone you can hear how depressed he is and some days it is OK I guess. I know one thing I will never give up on my family as long as I am alive.