Note: My original draft of this story was fairly scathing toward the “foster mom.” I decided to see what AI might suggest for edits. AI tends to stick with safe language and softens inflammatory remarks. While this AI version of the story does not fully convey the contempt that I have for the foster mom, it tells the story adequately while keeping me and my family ambiguous and legally safe. Here’s the story…
There are no photos for this story. It’s an ugly situation, and it will remain text-only.
In my opinion, my mother-in-law (MIL) is far too trusting. Over the years, she handed out copies of her house key to various acquaintances for pet sitting during trips. So when a sudden medical emergency landed her in the hospital—with doctors predicting she wouldn’t survive—her home was left completely exposed.
Her trusted friends holding Power of Attorney (whom I’ll refer to collectively as “the POA”) stepped in to manage her affairs. Within a month of her hospitalization, several family heirlooms, paintings, and pieces of jewelry where thought to have simply vanished.
Around the same time, two of my MIL’s church friends had taken in her two cats as “foster parents.” We planned a trip to Oregon to retrieve what we could. The older cat was too frail to make the cross-country trip to Virginia, but we were determined to bring the younger one home.
The POA told us that while one of these “foster moms” was collecting the younger cat from my MIL’s vacant house, she picked up an item and asked, “Hey, do you think she’d mind if I took this?” Despite being explicitly told to leave household property alone, she walked out with it anyway.
The POA believes multiple friends with keys pilfered the home, rationalizing the theft under the assumption my MIL would never return. Missing items included pieces owned or crafted by deceased family members. None of it was worth a fortune, but the sentimental value was irreplaceable.
I don’t know their names, but I wonder what these “women of God” see when they look at those stolen goods in their living rooms or wear them in public. It’s baffling how easily they might rationalize theft as “collecting mementos,” completely blind to the grief they inflict on a family.
Retrieving the cat turned out to be a covert operation. Suspecting the foster mom would resist giving him up, the POA called her when we were five minutes away and claimed that my wife, MIL, and the cat were flying back to Virginia later that afternoon. It was a complete fabrication that took me by surprise, but I kept quiet and trusted the strategy.
Sure enough, we arrived to passive-aggressive resistance. She voiced her “concern” that we weren’t “considering the cat’s feelings” about the move. The poor cat was vocal and stressed — I’m sure he was upset when the woman took him from my MIL’s home, too!
She reluctantly handed over the carrier and was visibly upset to hear him cry. I cut through the drama with a single question: “What does he eat?” She named the brand, I nodded, took the carrier, and walked straight back to my car before she could spin the encounter into a debate. I pulled the car around, the POA trotted across the street to hop in, and we made a swift exit before things got worse.
Later, she sent nasty messages to both the POA and my MIL. Luckily, she doesn’t know my name or contact info. While I didn’t like relying on deception, I have no regrets about using it against a manipulator for a clean break.
She’s since been blocked her from contacting my MIL and POA. In my opinion, a reasonable foster parent would have said, “I’m glad he’s going to a loving home.” I would have happily sent updates and photos. But that woman wanted drama — the best way to handle attention-seekers is total silence. I will never respond to her regardless of how well or poorly the cat is doing.
Still, a sarcastic part of me occasionally fantasizes about sending her one update:
“The first day was very stressful. Poor little kitty started smoking cigarettes, then pot. Later, he was into nose candy and looking for black tar. He’s out of rehab now and using catnip patches to deal with the stress of his awful new home. He’s seeing a therapist who takes his feelings into consideration.”
Of course, I’ll stick to the silent treatment — It’s probably more effective anyway.