Ayn Pillsbury Craciun
Ayn Suzanne Pillsbury is my third daughter
Ayn Suzanne Pillsbury, married since 2004 to Joseph Craciun, is biologically, Morgan's half-sister, Ayn being the child of Ronald Edward Kellett aka Foster, my second husband, while Morgan, some years older, is the daughter of Richard Lee Barteaux, by first husband.
Family stories naturally include the interaction of siblings, especially when these are significant.
As to Morgan, born Carolyn Anne Barteaux, Ayn said to me in November 2004, "Why don't we just let John Fund solve the problem?" I understood what Ayn was referring to. John had been battering Morgan, evidently since September 4, 2001, after the article she persuaded John Connelly to write about John, titled, "Sex, Lies, and The Tape" was published on WeaselSearch was published on Weasel Search. I heard this take place over the phone and so did Morgan's friend from North Carolina. There were many incidents of violence by John Fund.
I was seriously worried he would kill her, But Morgan refused to leave, despite my pleas. Eventually, she did agree, but only after I rented an apartment for her in New York.
During the divorce from Richard, my attorney had told me if I did not want him, Richard, to see the baby it would be wise not to ask for any support. I agreed. Richard had been hideously abusive to me and had told me if the baby was a girl he wanted to have sex with her. Richard Lee Barteaux
I married Ronald Edward Kellett on May 1, 1972. Ayn came along, following Dawn Ellen by 13 months, in 1975. She was a beautiful baby, just as Dawn had been, so beautiful my heart swelled with happiness when I looked at them playing together.
They both started preschool at the same time at First Lutheran School in Northridge and beginning the next year were in Kindergarten and First Grade there.
Dawn was always rather rebellious, while Ayn was quiet and shy through those primary years.
Then, at the end of 8th Grade Ayn got into the car after school in tears, which were falling like crystalline beads on her cheeks.
Alarmed, I asked her what the problem was. Her head down, looking entirely dejected she said, “I want to run for School Secretary, but I can’t” Surprised, I asked, “Why do you think you can’t win?” Still sniffling into her hanky Ayn responded, “Because (NAME WITHHELD) is running, and she always wins.” My further inquiry revealed that a small group of girls in her class did, in fact, win everything.
Leaning toward Ayn I said, “Honey, you are going to win”. And Ayn did win. I began organizing her campaign that day. I wrote her campaign literature, designed her buttons and more. It was a landslide.
I had long since noticed while running campaigns for Libertarians that some humor delighted possible voters. So the campaign buttons came in three kinds. One had the phrase, "Vote for Ayn - She's SO FINE!" The second was just her name VOTE and the office, Secretary. The third you see to the right here. That made everyone laugh.
Ronald Edward Kellett (Foster) A bad mistake, Ron filed his taxes, but had joined a Libertarian group that thought they could evade taxes through the pretense of 'donating' the amount paid to their children's private schools to the "Church" incorporated as a non-profit by Bill, last name withheld, because he learned his lesson after sending 7 years in a federal penitentiary.
I had told Ron what would happen when I left him. And, like clockwork, a year, and a half later Ron called me, hysterical. He babbled, but I could make out what he meant. Two IRS Agents had come by to chat with him. Ron was informed that he was going to jail. Naturally, always consistent, Ron lied, telling the agents it was all Melinda's idea. He finished the conversation with, "And I gave them your phone number."
Really bad luck for me was marrying Craig Franklin, yet another psychopath. My reading on the subject of psychopathy had not delved into the possibility that at any time there are 20,000 highly intelligent and very psychopathic individuals in America.
Craig was brilliant, but too late I discovered he, too, had a seeming death wish, about the IRS. After I saved him from that in 1997, during which I had my first heart attack, I thought he would understand I loved him.
I had refused to marry him for the offense of not filing his IRS returns from the time he graduated from Stanford, majoring in Math. His first job out of college was with NASA, the second with Data General. He received major stock options there because his brilliance had become legend in the computer industry. But he left in two years because the IRS, he later confessed, had begun garnishing his pay.
This became a routine, I eventually learned. He would be hired, get major stock options, and leave as soon as the garnishments consumed his income.
I had no idea, of course; Craig never mentioned this. I discovered that he had not filed before we married the first time and told him we would be no marriage unless, and until, his taxes were filed.
I had my accountant make out the returns. Craig brought them, signed them in my presence, made out the envelopes, put on the stamps, and took them off to the post office. But he did not file them. I would find them in one of the 29 boxes sequestered in his office at GHS in February of 1997.
On his false promise I had married him the first time in 1987, a simple ceremony carried out, just the two of us, by clerk authorized to carry out this duty. Craig insisted on a lavish second marriage in 1989.
Full story, with documentation at "You Are Not Paranoid, The IRS Is Out To Get You," I would learn this in January, 1997, when Craig went into the hospital for his diabetes and mentioned this to explain why both our houses, one just put on the market, finally, after repairs were finished from the 1994 Northridge Quake, and the other which we had purchased in Santa Barbara, where Green Hills was located. The losses on the house were exactly what it was worth, $250,000.
As you can see, life is not what you plan, it is what happens. And our only path forward is to learn the lessons life brings.
Most of the rest of the story you can find at How The NeoCons Stole Freedom.
I still miss Arthur every single day. After his motorcycle accident, which almost killed him, causing a serious Traumatic Brain Injury on September 27, 1997, I spent every day at the hospital helping remove the scabs on his arms and legs so his skin could heal. He was in a coma, but the nurses and I could tell the pain could penetrate his consciousness. He thrashed and struggled to escape the pain..
But, thank God, he survived. For the next 22 years I was his only caretaker until 2016. He had made real steps toward recovery, but still could not care for himself, as he was blind in one eye entirely and nearly blind in the other. I can tell you, for fact, that recovery from Traumatic Brain Injuries can happen. Arthur's second brain injury, this one far more serious, took place soon after his original TBI, March 1998, with complete intention, by Craig, who had been informed he would be liable for support for Arthur because he was a disabled adult, then having turned 19.
Craig called me at that time saying he wanted to remain in Arthur's life, even if he was leaving me. This touched me, and I agreed to tell Arthur. I did, and will always regret this. Craig had said he wanted to take Arthur to lunch and asked me to drop him off, not far from our home. I did. An hour later, Arthur slammed in the front door, when in his room and locked the door. Bewildered, I tried to get him to talk to me. He refused. I called Craig to find out what could have happened. Craig, of course, lied to me. Arthur would tell me about what happened at that 'lunch' only ten years after Arthur had, shocked and depressed, shot himself in the brain through his palate.
I am thankful for every day Arthur lived. As hard as these times were, they also brought me real happiness and understanding.
Craig left me after insisting we take the whole family to Hawaii in 1997. This did not sound like a wonderful idea to me, but I agreed and made all of the arrangements. During this time, Morgan let Craig's divorce attorney, Jacqueline Misho, into our house so she could go through all of our records, all of my personal records, and take what could be harmful to Craig's planned divorce. This was part of his plan with Dan O'Dowd, his boss at Green Hills Software, the story provided above at How The NeoCons Stole Freedom.
Ronald Edward Foster - Arthur's letter about Ron and his behavior, of which I had been unaware. - Arthur's letter about Ron and his behavior, of which I had been unaware.
Life is, and it is important to learn the lessons life offers.
Arthur had never had a father figure in his life, except my own father, who was then very elderly, who was a good man. That changed in 2016.
In May, 2016, I answered my phone to a brief conversation with Howard Hinman, who I had known from my connections in the Libertarian Party for over 30 years. The call was brief. Howard said, "You and Brock are the only two strategic thinkers in the Libertarian Movement. You need to start working together, immediately." Howard then gave me Brock's phone number, saying Brock had now received mine.
The resulting conversation began within five minutes. Six hours later we wrote and signed a partnership agreement on the work we had outlined. It was about four months before we met in person. A few weeks later Brock got down on his knees and asked me to marry him. "Yes", I responded.
After that, Arthur had a father who was all anyone could want. Both of us miss Arthur every day, and always will.
