OneMansCourage

Donna Marie was born October 30, 1956 and not long after her
birth, Muriel filed for divorce and made no effort to hide the
built-up animosity she felt toward her soon to be ex-husband and
their children for the choices that Donald had made.

When Donald returned to the states, he pleaded with Muriel to
allow the children to come and live with him; however, Muriel
refused his pleas, telling him, "Over my dead body you'll get
the kids. You'll be lucky if you ever see them again."

Given the times, usually the mother received custody of the
children, which was exactly what happened when their divorce
became final in April 1957.

Then, just weeks after their divorce, and without Donald's
knowledge or consent, Muriel drove two of their sons, Ed and
Richard, to the home of Richard's grammar school teacher, Mrs.
Lee. As the adults spoke, Ed realized they were there because
his mother had arranged for the Lees to adopt his brother.

Ed remembers hearing Mr. and Mrs. Lee discussing with his mother
how they could give Richard a good home, an education, and send
him to college. But as the conversation continued, Muriel told
the Lees that they had to adopt both Ed and Richard, or the deal
was off. Ed remembers the Lees telling his mother that they
weren't in a position to adopt the both Ed and Richard, and that
what Muriel was now requesting wasn't what they all agreed to.
Muriel backed out of the adoption agreement altogether and left
the Lee's home with both of her kids.

After their divorce and, true to her word, Muriel made it
difficult, if not impossible, for Donald to see his children
when he came to Miami, demanding he make prior arrangements.
Although difficult to do from Cuba, Donald gave in to her
unreasonable demands because his children were his world, and
Muriel knew that.

It didn't take long for Donald to realize Muriel's motive behind
those demands. If she knew when Donald was coming, she would
take the children and leave for the entire day, or call the
police after he arrived, telling them her ex-husband was at her
house and that he had a warrant for abandonment.

Back in those days, without the fast, sophisticated electronics
taken for granted in modern time, when the police arrived they
would automatically arrest Donald on Muriel's word, handcuffing
him and taking him to jail, in full view of his children.

Donald remained in jail until the following morning when he
could provide proof to the judge that he was complying with his
court-ordered child support payments. In fact, the Government
was automatically taking Donald's owed child support payments
out of his VA disability checks and sending the money directly
to Muriel, without Donald ever touching the funds.

Once the judge reviewed Donald's paperwork and corroborated the
support payments weren't delinquent, the judge suggested perhaps
he carry the paperwork with him since it was obvious the
children had become natural pawns in Muriel's efforts to extract
revenge of sorts on Donald.

Even though Muriel made it painfully hard for Donald to have any
contact whatsoever with his children, he never gave up trying to
see them, but could no longer bear seeing the look on his
children's faces when he was taken away in handcuffs. Nor could
he bear the confinement of jail.

Donald decided it would be best to park his vehicle down the
street and watch his children play in the front yard, rather
than subject them and himself to his ex-wife's vindictiveness.

Meanwhile, while working in Cuba, Donald met and married his
second wife, Zoraida, and often referred to her as his strength
and guidance during those stressful and depressing visits to
Miami.

The last time Donald returned to Miami, Muriel and his children
were gone. She had packed a few items and moved back to Detroit
to live with her sister, never forwarding their whereabouts to
Donald. It was possible that Muriel didn't know how to contact
Donald; however, one would have to assume that she would have
let Donald's family in South Dakota know of her plans, since she
knew Donald was in regular contact with his family.

Donald searched everywhere he thought they could have gone, to
no avail. Neighbors, family, and friends couldn't (or wouldn't)
give Donald any information as to the whereabouts of his
children. They had simply vanished.

Donald returned to Cuba for Zoraida, subsequently moving back to
Miami to continue his quest to find his children. After
searching for nearly a year, Donald realized that his children
were gone and, deep in his heart, he hoped one day he'd see them
all again.

Donald eventually moved to Hoboken, New Jersey, with Zoraida and
the new family they had started. At the same time, after a year
in Detroit, Muriel moved back to Florida, first to Miami, then
to Hollywood, never missing an opportunity to tell the children
that their father was a "rotten bastard" and "no-good." She even
made sure they knew "their father didn't care about them" and
that "he was the reason that they were poor."

Muriel also spoke freely to family, friends, and even complete
strangers about her ex-husband and how, according to her,
"Donald abandoned her with five rotten kids."

At one point, Muriel forced Ed to lie about his age so he could
get a job bagging groceries at Edison Plaza. What I found even
more disturbing is that Muriel confiscated every dime her young
son earned, telling him, "We're poor, and I need that money to
feed all you kids."

One of the most embarrassing times for Ed and his siblings was
when Muriel chose to be a contestant on the TV show Queen for a
Day when it came to Miami.

The show was hosted by Jack Bailey and started out on radio in
1945. By 1956, the thirty-minute show went to television. So
many women lined up outside the studio for the tapings of Queen
for a Day that the popularity of this reality TV game show was
increased to 45-minutes.

How the game show worked was four woman contestants had to speak
publicly about their recent hardships and the circumstances
surrounding them. The studio audience then voted, using an
applause meter, for the woman who told the most pathetic and
desperate story.

The winner was draped in a red velvet robe and a sparkling
crown. The winner was also awarded many gifts, such as washers,
dryers, refrigerators, trips, and more.

Muriel told her pitiful story of divorce and abandonment, as she
saw it, and won the title of Queen for a Day. She received
numerous gifts, including a shopping spree for her children
where they were each able to pick out three or four pairs of
shoes from a store in Miami.

"It was humiliating," said Ed. "We became known as the shoes for
Schuman bunch. We were teased relentlessly by other kids. You
don't forget how mean other kids can be."

Donald was only in Hoboken for a year before taking a job
painting storage tanks with the Texaco Oil Company on the island
of Trinidad, in the British West Indies.

By mid 1961, Muriel began dating a man, I'll call Newman. Newman
made no effort to hide the fact he disliked her five children.
In fact, Muriel didn't seem at all concerned that her new
boyfriend took it upon himself to assume responsibility of
disciplinarian and ultimately became the children's nemesis.

As the relationship between Muriel and Newman grew, so did the
tension between him and the children, and from Muriel's
perspective, her children were the thorns in her bed of roses.

For children with limited or sporadic contact from a parent,
several months (or longer) of no contact from nor mention of
that parent can pass without notice, unless another man comes
into their mother's life, as was the case for fifteen-year-old
Eddie Don and his siblings.

Curious, Ed walked into the kitchen where his mother stood at
the sink washing dishes and asked, "Where's my dad been?"

Staring out the window, Muriel softly, yet casually replied, "He
died, Ed."

Ed looked at his mother in disbelief.

"Pop died? When?"

"I don't know when he died, Ed. I guess it was recently."

Clearly upset, Ed asked, "How? How did Pop die, mom?"

Muriel's reply was curt.

"How the hell do I know? Probably a heart attack. They didn't
say, and I didn't ask. Now get out of here and leave me alone."

Ed walked into his bedroom, pulled out the Purple Heart from his
top dresser drawer and sat on his bed clutching it.

"How could Pop be dead? I don't understand."

Then, in an emotional flash of recollections, Ed began thinking
about the special times he shared with his dad, and his tears
began to fall. The realization that he would never again hear
his dad proudly introduce him as, "Eddie Don, my number one son"
was crushing to this young boy.

"I didn't even get to say goodbye. I bet that's why I haven't
gotten anymore letters from you Pop. I love you."

It was approximately late 1961 when little Donna was diagnosed
with rheumatoid arthritis, making her more needy and vulnerable
than her brothers because of her constant doctor visits and the
sheer pain of the disease.

At 5:07 a.m., on July 29, 1962, Donna was admitted to Jackson
Memorial Hospital, and sadly, four days later, on August 2, she
died.

According to Donna's death certificate, her immediate cause of
death stated Bronchial pneumonia and salicylism due to
rheumatoid arthritis.

Since I had no idea what 'salicylism' was, I had to look it up
in one of my medical resources. According to The American
Illustrated Medical Dictionary, 21st Edition, salicylism is the
toxic effects of excessive dosage with salicylic acid or its
salts. Salicylic Acid is a white crystalline acid, used
especially to make aspirin.

I thought, an aspirin overdose?

Before I jumped to any real conclusions, I knew I had to
question Ed's mother about this.

I approached Muriel and delicately asked, "How did Donna die?"

Like before, her response was cold and disheartening.

She shrugged and replied, "I don't remember. I think it was
encephalitis."

"Encephalitis? Are you sure? Could she have passed away from an
aspirin overdose?" I asked.

Coldly, she responded, "Could be. I remember the doctors
questioned me about that, but nothing ever happened."

"Ed thought Donna died from encephalitis. Did you know that?", I
said to Muriel.

"Of course I knew that. I told the boys that's how she died."

Still in Trinidad, and not long after learning of his daughter's
death, Donald was traveling home from work when traffic began
slowing in both directions. Donald stuck his arm out the window
in an attempt to warn oncoming traffic of the slow down.

A truck loaded with grapefruits was traveling in the opposite
direction and struck Donald's arm, ripping it off at the elbow.
Donald was rushed to a nearby hospital where surgeons were able
to reattach his arm. Once Donald was well enough to travel, he
moved his family off the island of Trinidad and back to Hoboken,
where he remained until his death.

At the same time, Muriel's deviant thoughts turned to her four
boys, and when orphanages wouldn't succumb to her unusual
demands, she decided to take a one-by-one approach. The first
order of business was to take Eddie to the bus station with a
one-way ticket for him to Utah to live with Muriel's Mormon
brother and his family. Ed spent over a year in Utah, and not
once did his mother call or send him a letter.

Ed was treated quite well by his Aunt and Uncle, however, he
didn't ask to go Utah and missed his brothers and friends enough
to have a talk with his Uncle Ed about how he felt. Uncle Ed
understood and bought Eddie a one-way ticket back to Miami.

It took several days to get from Utah to Miami and Ed was tired
when he arrived back home. Muriel answered he door and instead
of hugging her son, she wanted to know why he was back in Miami,
then tried to convince Ed that he begged her to send him to
Utah.

"I told my mom I didn't know anything about going to Utah until
she took me to the bus station and said goodbye. At first, she
wasn't even going to let me inside the house," Ed said.

Ed walked past his mother, uninvited, and that's when she told
him that she married Newman a few days earlier. She then
proceeded to tell Ed there was no room for him and that he
couldn't stay. Muriel strongly suggested that Ed join the Army.
She said it would make a man out of him and signed his
enlistment papers.

Ed was leaving for basic training in two weeks and had no place
to go so Muriel allowed him to stay at the house. Muriel and
Newman didn't even try to make Ed feel welcome for those two
weeks. "I would soon be heading to Fort Jackson, South Carolina,
for basic training, and my mom couldn't have cared less," Ed
told me.

Donald has lived with a tremendous amount of regret and guilt
over the forty years and Ed's stories were upsetting to him. Ed
told his dad many times, "it's not your fault. You need to
understand that. Trust me, if my brothers and I had known you
were alive, we would have tried to find you. But we can't change
what was done."

With Ed out of the way, it was now Richard's turn. Newman was a
repairman by trade and drove a work van that had only a driver
and passenger seat. One day, Newman, Muriel, Richard, and Bob
were coming back from N. Miami Beach when Newman ran a stop
sign. This scared Richard and he told Newman how he felt. Newman
slammed on the brakes, tossing Richard and Bob forward. When the
van stopped, Newman kicked Richard out of the van.

Richard, only in his teens, had to walk home fifteen plus miles,
which was almost to the Broward County line, through areas that
at the time were known for their high crime rate.

Ed was in basic training at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, when he
flew home on a two-week furlough and took a taxi from the
airport to his house. When he arrived, another family was living
in his house. A neighbor, who was friendly with Muriel,
recognized Ed and came out of her house. She told him his mother
moved and gave Ed his mother's new address. After arriving, Ed
quickly learned he wasn't welcome at the northwest Miami home
either. Ed returned to his old neighborhood, where he spent his
two-week leave with his longtime friend Pete. Ed left for AIT
(Advanced Infantry Training) without seeing his mother or saying
goodbye.

Having endured years of torment from Newman and his mother,
Richard was eventually kicked out of the house not long after Ed
returned to AIT. At age sixteen, and with no place to go,
Richard drove to Alabama to live with a childhood friend and his
friend's family.

It was now Bob's turn. For unknown reasons Newman treated Bob
worse. After one particular incident at home between them, Bob
chose to stay the night in his friend's tree house across the
street from his own home rather than be constantly harassed by
his stepfather.

The following morning Bob returned home to get ready for school,
and before he knew it, the police were knocking at their door
and taking him away to Junior Haven, a juvenile jail of sorts.

Even though Muriel was aware of the fight between Newman and her
son, and even though she knew exactly where Bob had spent the
night, she still called the police with a tale of Bob running
away and this, at the time, was an automatic ticket into Junior
Haven.

Ed always came back to Florida to spend time with his brother
Bob during his leave from the Army, especially since Ed knew
he'd be heading to Vietnam soon.

That enjoyment changed, however, when Ed learned that Bob was
sent to Junior Haven by their mother. What angered Ed most was
that Muriel sent Bob to Junior Haven and kicked Richard out of
the house for the same reasons she sent him to Utah. They
weren't wanted by their own mother.

Ed learned Bob had already been incarcerated for twenty-two days
and took it upon himself to drive to Junior Haven and remove his
brother from a place he didn't deserve to be. It was clear to
both Ed and Bob that their mother wanted nothing to do with
them, especially since she hadn't even attempted to contact Bob
over the twenty-two days he was locked up.

After Ed picked Bob up, they decided it would be best if he
stayed with friends instead of going back home where he knew
love was not an option. At the tender age of sixteen, Bob became
a man. He dropped out of school, picked up a full time job to
pay his bills responsibly and keep a roof over his head.

Respectfully noted, many years later, and just after Newman died
(1994), Muriel wasn't financially able to live by herself, and
it was Bob who opened up his home, his wallet, and his heart to
his mother.

Ed went to Vietnam in September 1965, and his tour ended in
September 1966. He eventually made his way back to Florida and
was apprehensive about returning home, but convinced himself,
since he just survived Vietnam, perhaps his mother and Newman
would be a bit more accommodating and compassionate toward him.

On the contrary, Newman taunted Ed, calling him a 'baby killer'
and, again, was kicked out of the house by his stepfather. With
no place to go, Ed lived out of his 1959 Mercury for a couple of
weeks before he had enough money to move into his own apartment
in Miami.