It really saddens me when I think of how difficult it must be for Steve and Liz, as they think about their own son and his lack of education, being a father by age 18, etc....compared to how a cousin who lives a couple blocks away just exceled.
Liz says that she went to a community college of some sort, but she didn't stay long enough to graduate. [Note: This statement is true to the best of my knowledge and belief. If it is untrue, I hope the McCuskers will quickly correct me].
Steve McCusker---eldest of 7 children of a postal worker-----was the first in his family to attend college. And not only did he attend college; he graduated from a premier college known as one of the "Little Ivys".
Now, Steve has told me many times over the course of decades that he married Liz solely in order to "do the right thing" when she announced she was pregnant--------this would be AFTER Steve had broken up with her. So kudos to him, I suppose------though I personally would have chosen a different path if I felt, as he told me, that he had broken up with her because he thought she was "fucking crazy".
A long time ago (23 years?) he showed me a video tape of himself feeding his baby, while the kid from Liz's first marriage watched television. Steve then was heard on the tape trying to get Liz's kid out of his bathrobe and dressed for the day. Liz could be heard in the background, doing absolutely nothing.
Nonetheless, once he made the decision to form a life with Liz, her child by a previous marriage, and the new baby; one would presume he had aspirations for his new child. Don't we all hope that our children will have at LEAST the life-style we have, or better? I know I do, for my own kids and grandkids Anything I've done, I want them to do even better!
But I suppose if one doesn't have a spouse's support on this, it will never work. I suspect that's what happened to this poor child of Steve and Liz. Liz doesn't give a whit about education [source: Elizabeth McCusker depositions], and poor Steve couldn't inculcate values on his own.
So their son, who had so much potential, was allowed to "live" with his girlfriend in the basement of their home where.....besides drinking and writing graffiti like "Penis" on the walls [see the slideshow of "How the McCuskers left their home", elsewhere on this web site], the girlfriend became pregnant while the McCuskers' son was still in high school.
WHAT WERE THESE PARENTS THINKING????? They provided a place for their 17-year-old to have sex with his girlfriend every night? Don't MOST parents do exactly the opposite??? [Note: As of summer 2017, that girlfriend of the McCusker's son had 4 children by 3 different men. Nor are the McCuskers at all involved with their first grandchild. Apparently allowing their 17-year-old son to be the decision-maker in their house didn't work out too well).
And Liz admitted this in her deposition:
In her deposition, Liz spent quite a bit of time attempting to deflect guilt about being the author of the "Jack Hill" defamation. She stated that when they were living in the 6000 sq foot luxury home, that her son had parties in an area of the house outside of her vision and that she had no idea how many people were there or who they were.
She then suggested that one of these anonymous people could have sneaked upstairs, found her computer turned on, and used her computer to make defamatory remarks about me.
While that was probably one of the most creatively stupid excuses I've ever heard, there is an underlying truth which is pretty scary: That the McCuskers were living in a rental home, and that they allowed their son to have parties with (as Liz said under oath "maybe a hundred people") and that they had no idea who these people were! Do YOU keep track of who is in your home?
Do YOU keep track of whom your teenage son has invited into your home?
An 18-year-old high school grad with a child, but with zero college, has few prospects. Most people these days have no prospects without a college degree (or better) unless they learn a trade. What in heaven's name was wrong with Steve at the time? Was it Liz's influence that a college education or trade school, in her opinion, doesn't matter?
When Steve was a junior in high school, he was busy applying to colleges. Yet when his own son was the same age, Steve did not put the kid's nose to the grindstone and suggest applying to colleges or learning a trade. On the contrary, he let the kid's girlfriend move into the family home so that they could have sex every night.
[But good for the son----he was a bit late to the game, but did learn a valuable trade]
So we get back to that cousin-thing.......
The cousin goes to a private school, and excels. Not only does she excel, but she gives back to the community.
It absolutely disgusts me that in her guise of "Jack Hill" (whom she thinks she has removed from the internet, but unfortunately the internet is forever----another story) Liz says that she and Steve "volunteer" for, and contribute money to non-profits. THEY DO NOT DO SO. Steve also lied to one of his nephews, stating that he was a contributor to Bates College, which he was not.
The cousin's parents (Steve's brother) did not have the educational opportunity/fancy college that Steve did. Yet the brother clearly understands the importance for his child to get a good education.
What broke down in Steve's life that his own brother understands this, but Steve doesn't? I'm going to guess that Steve's brother has a wife who supports education.
I will further guess that Steve's brother did not allow his high-school-aged child to live in his basement with a sexual partner.
It absolutely disgusts me that in her guise of "Jack Hill" (whom she thinks she has removed from the internet, but unfortunately the internet is forever----another story) Liz says that she and Steve "volunteer" for, and contribute money to non-profits. THEY DO NOT DO SO. Steve also lied to one of his nephews, stating that he was a contributor to Bates College, which he was not.
The cousin's parents (Steve's brother) did not have the educational opportunity/fancy college that Steve did. Yet the brother clearly understands the importance for his child to get a good education.
What broke down in Steve's life that his own brother understands this, but Steve doesn't? I'm going to guess that Steve's brother has a wife who supports education.
I will further guess that Steve's brother did not allow his high-school-aged child to live in his basement with a sexual partner.