Termites gnaw away on wood. Mike Rinder gnaws away on people.

Mike Rinder’s treatment of his own children was always in the very covert form of pretending to be “only in the best interest of” or “an attempt to improve.”  That is the excuse he used to invalidate and “downsize” his own children, again and again. Mike constantly did this to our son, criticizing his actions in front of others, his physical capabilities, his likes and dislikes, his creations and his desires in life.

Mike Rinder has always tried to dominate others and, as the coward he is, he honed his skills in dominating others by nullifying them. That is how he treated, and continues to treat, every member of his family, including myself and his children and even his own mother – who he constantly made less of despite the fact she is a brilliant and capable woman.

I used to try to think of the best present I could give my dad at Christmas that would really mean something to him, not just another tie or shirt. I put a lot of create into getting him something special as I wanted to make him happy.

All I wanted in return was a smile or a hug of thanks. The smile or the hug never came, though I waited with bated breath.  So I tried again and again and again…

Last year, my father was in Melbourne, Australia, where his mother and brother also lived. They were not in town.

One aspect of Mike Rinder’s past that puts many things into perspective and sheds light on his true personality regarding children and his attitude towards them.

I enter this season knowing with more and more certainty that Mike Rinder never loved us and, as he himself admitted, he walked out on his family knowing he was walking out on us.

Instead of supporting us and loving his family, he left without a word and pretends we never existed and that our life work and accomplishments mean nothing. He actively works to destroy what we believe in. None of us ever did anything to hurt him so he makes it his life’s work.

We have never done anything to Mike to make his life harder to live. Quite the contrary — We gave him unconditional love and support for over 50 years. Could Mike even imagine what his father would say if he were alive? After all we have fought for?

This is one of Mike Rinder’s earlier cars – a possession so “prized” it took precedence over his passengers’ bodily safety because Mike liked driving recklessly and it did not matter who was in the car – especially your family.

I have been more than curious for a long time as to what Christie Collbran sees in my father, Mike Rinder, that would make her throw away her entire life, as well as her son’s and future child’s lives.

I am only a year younger than Christie so I have a reality on life in the early 30’s. Knowing Mike, it tells me a lot about her and why she hooked up with him.