Parental Alienation Syndrome and Me: One Father’S Story and Poems

By David Goodman

Parental Alienation Syndrome occurs when a child is turned against his or her own parent. PAS is real, and it hurts; through the words of one sufferer, it can be exposed.

The best day in David Goodman’s life was the day he became a father. His life was changed for the better with the arrival of a beautiful baby girl. For thirteen years, he held her, loved her, and cared for her—until, one day, she was removed from his life forever, through no fault of his own. Since then, Goodman has suffered as a result of Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS).

PAS is very real. The innocent child is never to blame for the alienation. In most cases, one parent turns against the other parent and that parent may then pour poison into the ears of the innocent until the child turns against the unwanted parent, too. The result for the unwanted parent is abandonment, heartbreak, and loss. It’s hard to believe it could happen, so imagine Goodman’s surprise when he suddenly became the alienated member of his once-loving family.

Parental Alienation Syndrome and Me is Goodman’s story, told through anecdotes and poetry. This is the vivid recording of one man’s journey into despair over the loss of the love of his child, fifteen years ago and counting. The tale does not necessarily have a happy ending, but perhaps, through his words, another family will be saved the pain of PAS, and another child will be spared the pain of an alienated parent.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Oct 14, 2010
• ISBN: 9781450264143

David Goodman

David Goodman is an independent journalist, contributing writer for Mother Jones, host of the radio show, The Vermont Conversation, and the bestselling author of ten books. The author of Fault Lines: Journeys Into the New South Africa, and Democracy Now! (with Amy Goodman), his work has also appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Outside, The Christian Science Monitor, The Boston Globe, The Nation, and numerous other publications. He lives in Vermont.

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Copyright © 2010 David Goodman

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

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ISBN: 978-1-4502-6412-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4502-6414-3 (e)

iUniverse rev. date: 09/21/2018

Contents

Introduction

The Kiss in the Cave

Love Is Good—Still

PAS

I Know You Can’t See Me

Devastation

Nuclear Bomb—In My Closet

Freud Said

No More Wire Hangers

Mirror in Front of the Couch

Depression

Henry David Thoreau

A Thought … Never Mind

Me

Living Conditions

My Favorite Kid!

It’s Very Large, It’s Very Small

Conclusion

The Last Word

More Poetry by David Goodman

One Thought Equals Eternity

Touch

Onions on the Merry-Go-Round

Kiss This Heart

Wind of Life

Do En My Laundry

Rebellion/Control

Get a Grip

Has Been Me

Mammal

Lifetime

Kpucteh

What Is the Sound of One Flip-Flop Flopping?

Favorite Word—Rainbow

Brothers

Greatest Generation/Greatest Relation

Mom2

Introduction

My name is David. Like most, I was born gasping for air and screaming. My family tells me that I was a cute kid, with lots of blond curls and chubby cheeks. Later I learned to ride a bike and graduated from high school and college. I loved sports and music, fell in love with women, broke a few hearts, had my heart broken, and became an adult—slowly. I thought about life and death, and I laughed a lot.

Pretty normal, huh? So, why write a book? you might ask.

The answer? Because the worst thing that could happen