[13 of 13] Julie's Deleted Posts - In Support of Penn Mommy

In Support of Penn Mommy
Oct 1, 2008

Penn Mommy and I have shared a similar experience. I actually didn't know the story behind the reasons she started her blog until I read a response from her son, William (pasted below). For anyone who may be questioning her credibility, let me assure you that she is who she says she is. I know that my identity was questioned for some time, but I think there is enough "proof" that I am Jodi's sister and I'm not lying. You may not agree with the reasons I felt that I needed to come forward, but until any of you have had a "real" life experience with Jon and Kate (I'm not talking about a speaking engagement), you are basing your opinions on speculation and characters on a TV show. The supporters love to use the phrase, "Don't judge them unless you have walked in their shoes." Well, the same applies to me, Jodi, Penn Mommy and anyone else who has spoken out based on our "real" life experiences. None of you have walked in OUR shoes, so until you can come back and report on your own real life experiences, don't judge those of us who actually KNOW them.

I do not know Penn Mommy, but I have communicated with her and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that what she says is true. She has not lied and I am sick of those who are capable of twisting every word to try to discredit anyone who may have something to say that isn't easy to hear. Reading William's response, I realize that Penn Mommy and I started our blogs for the same reason. We used it as a tool to write about our feelings/frustrations, etc. I didn't link mine anywhere or advertise it. When I opened it up to the public the end of June, I actually went on vacation and didn't even have internet access. When I got home, I realized that it had spread all over the internet and was linked in so many places that I couldn't keep track. I wasn't expecting that. I had no experience with public forums/discussion boards and it really shocked me.

For those of you who haven't been following the blogs over the last month, you can read a good summary of events HERE. I am asking that everyone remember that we are all real people. Please take a break from all of this and pray for this family. My heart is aching for them and to hear about the horrible things that are being said and done at this difficult time is sickening. People have actually taken it as far as calling the hospital to try to disprove Penn Mommy and make her out to be a liar. That is crossing the line!

Think long and hard about what you are actually defending. You don't have to agree with what has been said or why, how, when, etc. If you don't like what you read, then stop reading and move on. As many want to say, "If you don't like the show, then change the channel." I don't watch the show, but that doesn't mean the children are no longer being exploited. People have to be intentionally searching out information on the internet to run across my blog. I'm not forcing anyone to read it and as I said at the beginning, I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. I'm making information available for those who are looking. Everyone can form their own opinions based on what they have seen and read.

I appreciate the time William has taken to keep us updated on his brother's condition. He has handled this stressful situation in such a mature way and I think it's a testament to the kind of person Penn Mommy is. It's obvious that they have a loving, supportive family and they deserve respect in this difficult time. This is William's response to the post that is linked above:

Man. I just want to thank you for writing what you’ve written here. If you’ll allow it, I’d like to expound on some of what you have said.

You’re on the money. My mom started the blog on my recommendation. It’s a long story. One worth telling, though. Growing up in the Wyo-Etown area makes you feel like your town is alot smaller than it really is. Everyone knows someone. True to form, everyone knows someone who knows the Gosselins. I was in my undergrad program around the time mom helped out the Gosselin Family. In the beginning, it gave her joy. She missed being needed by her boys. To this day, I think she’d marry me off for a dollar to have some grand babies of her own. She’s good at it. Me and my brothers have the mom who all of our friends envied. She was strict, but cool in her own way. She got us. She never judged us or our friends but made well timed suggestions when she felt something was out of order. When Jon came to church that day and announced Kate’s pregnancy, my mom put on her reading glasses and went to work planning. She called every person with a baby she could think of for clothes, furniture, and all the things babies need that I claim ignorance to. She defended the Gosselins to those who said “SIX BABIES?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” It was never a matter of judgement for her. Six babies were coming even if some didn’t approve and that was what mattered. She backed up Kate after my aunt heard her make ingrateful comments about the remodel on Home #1. I will never forget the spat they had on that issue. My aunt was livid and there’s my mom nodding, then saying “It is her home. How hard would it be to give up control of decorating a nursery?”

Over the next year and a half or longer, mom went without if she heard there was a need. Not just for the Gosselins, though. Anyone. I did my parents taxes that year and all told mom donated about fifteen grand. The answer to my question was always the same, “It needed to be done.” My step-dad didn’t understand her, which most people didn’t, but it was mom. I just saw my first episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8. When Kate said she and Jon decided to see if they could make it alone one night and stopped the volunteers, I was floored. My other brother looked at me and laughed. The volunteers weren’t dismissed that congenially. It was more like Kate making her “friends” do the dirty work of letting someone know that they’d said or done something to upset Kate. Pretty soon, there weren’t many people left who would help. As evidence, I submit to you that there is no one left in their life pre-show. No one! I don’t have children. But, I’d like to think that if I survived eight children in three years because of my friends, I would still have those friends three years after. Friends and family work themselves into the fabric of our lives. Where’s the Gosselin tapestry?

One day, I get a phone call from my mom who’s telling me that Jodi has “come out”. She tells me Julie had a website. A few weeks later, she heard that Julie was getting slaughtered. Jodi made her video after that and mom heard that Julie was still being called a liar. One day at church, mom was told that Jon and Kate were talking about how hard it was to “Do it alone.”

I told her she should start journaling her feelings because she felt like Jodi and Julie were getting treated badly without cause. I didn’t expect her to do it. Her blog was like her diary to work things out. I don’t think she knew how public they can become. Soon after, the blog was found or shown to people and it, as Moon is saying, exploded.

Mom would never lie. She isn’t like that. The last thing she lied about in my memory was telling Jason that the Easter Bunny was real. I don’t think I need to say more than that.

Jason and my mom have a unique bond. We all have a special bond with her. She never lumped us together as “the brothers”. She took us for who were were as individuals and I hope to be as good a parent as she was. She’s beautiful.

Jason’s illness and condition have deeply wounded her. She is in no condition to blog. My dad and I told her to stop. Just cut clean. Screw what people thought they wanted and needed. If people thought my mom was obligated to continue then they suck. One blogger named Fiona took it too far. I set up some logging technologies on mom’s blog and Fiona was using other names to support her pathetic agenda. I can name the following: Suzanne, fiona, shabnam, MADYSFAN, etc.,. By my count, she has thirteen identities. All ping back to her IP at a University of Utah. This is FUBAR. Unless a dorm full of chicks have a Kate Love Posse, she’s sock-puppeting the hell out of the internet. Suzanne (her real name) e-mailed my mom the same question, by my count and what I’ve seen, more than sixteen times. The real kicker is that mom answered it and she still asked. She asked questions about the kids that mom refused to answer and it pissed her off. Too bad! If you consider this person to be rational, then I feel sorry for you. She saddled up to my mom pretending to be a friend at the same time she was badmouthing her. Furthermore confirmation of Suzanne’s multiple personalities has come through an inbox full of e-mails. This Suzanne also had the nerve to start a thread talking about Jason’s illness and called my mom a liar. Suzanne/Fiona, you wrote my mom after she expressly stated she wouldn’t read your comments and said f-ed up things to her. She didn’t read them and she won’t. I read them and I think you’re certifiable. Get help.

Jason is not breathing on his own and will not be able to even if he wakes up. His seizures caused too much brain damage after the stroke. He’s had pieces of his brain tissue removed that were vital to independent living. My mom is hoping against hope that all the amazing prayers will be answered. She thanks each and every one of you for your love & prayers. She clings to them. Jonas and I have printed up some of them for her to see and she read them to my brother. Tomorrow is the day when our future course is decided. Either mom and dad(s) will transfer him to a long term care facility or we will watch him die and his organs harvested. I will never forget my brother. I never would have believed something like this could happen to him. The best word for it is tragic. He was passionate about his lfie in a way that made my brother and I envious. He was funny. Man was he funny. I don’t know how we will push through this but we will. Please give us time to grieve this. Please reserve any negative commentary for later or never. I beg all of you to give my mom space to mourn and remember. Thank you.