Amanda McKinnon
Joseph C. Vaux was my grandfather. Growing up, he doted on me. He took me to stay with him and his wife in their historic and quaint little town. While there, he would take me on plane and glider rides, as well as trips to Dairy Queen for my favorite—an M&M's blizzard. Given these regular experiences, I liked him and looked forward to going to his house.
However, as I got older, I observed some things on my own and learned some from others. He abused both his first wife (my grandmother) and four out of five of his children. Their stories are nightmarish and my mother was a completely broken person as a result of the abuse she endured. His oldest son had epilepsy and when he was still a teenager, his doctor told my grandmother (Joseph's wife) that the stress of the abuse was making his epilepsy much worse and that if she couldn't leave with her five children, then she must send him somewhere away from his father. She followed the doctor's advice and put him on a bus to Boston soon thereafter.
I also observed when I was a teenager how he treated one of my little cousins, who was high- energy because of ADHD. He talked lovingly to my other little cousins, but treated her with disgust and by all appearances, hatred. She was still very young at the time and it was at that point I decided to not have any more contact with him.
I do not write these things out of spite. I just believe his victims deserve to have the truth known about him. Although he was always very nice to me, I do not love him and I certainly don't respect him, because I judge others not by how they treat me, but by how they treat everyone.
However, as I got older, I observed some things on my own and learned some from others. He abused both his first wife (my grandmother) and four out of five of his children. Their stories are nightmarish and my mother was a completely broken person as a result of the abuse she endured. His oldest son had epilepsy and when he was still a teenager, his doctor told my grandmother (Joseph's wife) that the stress of the abuse was making his epilepsy much worse and that if she couldn't leave with her five children, then she must send him somewhere away from his father. She followed the doctor's advice and put him on a bus to Boston soon thereafter.
I also observed when I was a teenager how he treated one of my little cousins, who was high- energy because of ADHD. He talked lovingly to my other little cousins, but treated her with disgust and by all appearances, hatred. She was still very young at the time and it was at that point I decided to not have any more contact with him.
I do not write these things out of spite. I just believe his victims deserve to have the truth known about him. Although he was always very nice to me, I do not love him and I certainly don't respect him, because I judge others not by how they treat me, but by how they treat everyone.
