Update on Mom’s Injury

Hi everyone! In addition to a special week hosting my brother and his wife for his birthday, I have been very busy with my job, so have not posted new videos for a bit.

But, as so many people ask about my mom and her well-being, I did not want to delay too much longer in giving an update on how she is doing. Thanks so much for your concern and support, always!

I won’t sugarcoat it: my mom really is injured for life and in some level of pain every single day because of the attack by my father. We’ve done a lot of things to make her as comfortable as possible, but that injury is permanent, so we can only do so much.

So, we just got her a very comprehensive check from a physical therapist to see what else we could do. The physical therapist was very nice and very competent. She did an extensive physical examination of my mom, her arm, the injury, pain levels, mobility, rotation, etc. She was very precise with a ruler and thorough documentation, down to the millimeter.

Based on the exam, she then gave her recommendation to improve the mobility of her arm—but it is minimal. Here is what she concluded, in part: “She continues to have chronic pain with her right shoulder,” which we do know and makes sense because that’s the shoulder that was attacked.

The physical therapist went on to say, “She also has episodes of swelling, spasms, and numbness in her right arm,” which is what my mom experiences because of the nerve damage and the shoulder injury from the attack.

We also consulted her surgeon, Dr. Bell, whom she hasn’t been in touch with since COVID. Dr. Bell is her orthopedic surgeon—he did her surgery and has been her primary doctor. This was great because he was able to see her range of motion and find out how she was doing after some time has passed.

He wrote in his report: “She has never regained full motion in that shoulder,” which is the right shoulder, “and continues to have problems with it, to this day, with daily activities limiting her.” And, “She still has extremely limited motion.” Under the assessment and plan, he wrote: “She may continue to work on stretching and range-of-motion program, but after 12 years, it may be difficult for her to get any significant improvement.” And “This does appear to be directly correlated to the altercation in 2010,” which was when my father, Mike Rinder, abused her.

As you can see by those reports and the fact that she’s still in pain every day, she’s not fully recovered—and is unlikely to.

But that pain is still being negated by the person who did it, my father, Mike Rinder, the person that had his hands on her and caused the bloodshed, the nerve damage, the fractured bone, and the pain that she endures every day of her life. And my father, Mike Rinder, who abused my mother, has still not been brought to justice.

This also got me thinking about just how much domestic violence can reverberate into the future. It’s still affecting our family 12 years later. Each step we can take to inhibit the support of domestic violence creates a safer future for many years to come.

That’s the update on my mom. I thank you for asking how she’s doing and for sending your good wishes and your support. I really appreciate it.

Taryn

Justice4mom

Monetizing A Daughter’s Death

I was mortified when my “father,” Mike Rinder, brought the death of my sister, Kimberley, into his bigoted comments in responding to a woman’s loss of her son. And worst of all, he tried to monetize the deaths, using them as a sales pitch for his own “story.” I’m not exaggerating.

He has never spoken to me about my sister before—not once in my life. I was four years old when it happened, but I remember it—all of a sudden my baby sister was gone. I also remember that my mom was devastated. And I remember that my father didn’t really seem to care. In fact, he was quite cruel to my mother.

My mom recently told me a story that exemplifies this. Days after the death of my sister, my mom asked Mike to develop some photos she had taken of Kimberley. These were the few mementos she would have to remember her short life by. Mike took the film, seemingly to develop it, but came back empty-handed. He told my mom that the photos all came out black, so he threw them out. She didn’t believe him and demanded he produce the photos. His response, “It’s better this way,” essentially telling her to “get over it.” Heartless.

Now that I am a grown woman myself, I empathize even more with my mom and how she must have felt to lose a child.

That Mike Rinder so discourteously uses the loss of another woman’s child and my mom’s loss of a baby in the way that he has shows, once again, the type of man that he is. He is a cruel, cold person who does not respect women—or anyone for that matter. He continues to prove this over and over.

Taryn, Justice4Mom

Happy 4th of July weekend!!

Our country (America) was founded on ideals of freedom, justice, and liberty.

When we first think of the Fourth of July (which has been a federal holiday since 1941), usually it is of burgers sizzling on the grill, fireworks, sparklers, and summer! While these fun and festive traditions are certainly part of this major American holiday, it is also important to reflect and recognize that one has to take action to ensure these freedoms continue to exist, that justice is fair and equal, and that our liberty is kept intact.

And today, fighting for the rights our founders intended each citizen to have has become more important than ever.

But one freedom you may not think about is freedom from violence. Any act of domestic violence is the opposite of the ideals that make our country what it is. Domestic violence and perpetrators of it, are the antithesis of freedom, justice, and liberty. Each act of domestic violence, small or large, takes away that bit of freedom from its victim.

In the celebration of this July 4th weekend, think about anything you may be able to do to take action against domestic violence. Reflect on the year to come – is there anything more you can do to help another, to help a domestic violence victim, a mother, or a child? Each action we take does make a difference.

Enjoy your Independence Day weekend!