Matt Drudge reports here that Dr. Laura’s, mother Yolanda 77, was murdered several months ago and was just discovered.
What ramifications might this have on Dr. Morality and “do the right things”, daily call in program?
I can understand being out of touch with ones elderly parents, but if I had the resources I assume Dr. Laura does, I think I could hire someone to take her lunch once a week or so.
How sad.
Quote: “It was her choice to be estranged from her entire family.”
Translation: “Really, it wasn’t my fault; the bitch has only herself to blame.”
Christ, Doc, you can’t manage the barest admission of a whisper of responsibility for letting your mom die and her corpse to rot for months.
Hope you don’t suffer the same fate.
Estrangement does happen, and sometimes, there’s nothing you can do about it but let the estranged party have their way.
As much as I loathe Dr. "I’m the fount of morality "Laura, I’ll withold judgement on this until I have more information.
Huh
As easy a target as Dr Laura may be for scorn…are you saying that you know that Yolanda did not make a choice to cut off family ties?
If not…exactly what responsibility does Dr Laura have?
BTW there are plenty of dopers who have posted that they have cut off family ties to their parents…do you plan on holding them to the same level of criticism if a similar situation would happen to them? (of course in this case…it appears that Yolanda made the choice herself…unless there is other info here…)
I don’t know Dr. Laura–I find her to abhorrent to listen to, even in a staring-at-a-traffic-accident kind of way. Is her behaviour in this matter actually inconsistent with her philosophy?
What would she advise a caller who had an elderly relative who refused contact? Would she tell them to make a nuisance of themselves and stop at nothing to be part of the person’s life, or would she tell them that ultimately the person is an adult who has a right to decide with whom to associate?
Uh, not that I’m in love with the idea of coming to Dr. Assha- I mean, Laura’s defence, but I’ve got a brother who has refused to speak to anyone in his immediate family for more than twenty years. He relocated several times and it took us three days to locate an address for him just to notify him that his father had died. He refuses to speak at any length with me, even though I never had that slightest thing to do with what caused him to cut off communication with his parents, and I have heard nothing in the year since I let him know about Dad’s funeral.
Since he clearly does not want to remain in communication, I see no reason to annoy him further by checking up on him. Chances are, if he disappeared tomorrow it might be months before anyone in the family knew.
The point here is, that if the elder Mrs. Schlesinger(?) simply did not want to remain in communication, it would be very hard to keep up with her situation.
Look at it this way, if you spawned Dr. Laura, would you want to stay in touch with her.
Touching Dr. Laura . . . . brrrrrr
Um, you know, some people really do choose not to be involved with their families. My dad could have been murdered and rotting for 5 years and I would never have known. And that would be his fault (the me not knowing part), not mine.
Ooops, shoulda refreshed… there was only one post visible when I posted…
If you’ll note, I mentioned that I understand estrangement for what ever reason. I hope that should similar circumstances occur with me, that I would be gracious enough to have someone at least check on my mother from time to time.
I know it happens and it always makes a big splash in the paper but I have a difficult time imagining how anyone could lay dead in an apartment for months or sometimes years, without someone noticing or caring.
My point was, and forgive my for the hyperbole, that she didn’t display any remorse or responsibility for her own part in her relationship with her mother, and was too quick to try and absolve herself of any guilt in the matter. Hell, it was almost in the same breath as “I’m shocked and horrified.”
Had it been a matter of days, a couple of weeks, I’d understand. Months, it’s a little harder.
But what if your mother did not WANT you to send someone to check on her? With my father, I didn’t even know where he was for 5 years. And we only found out because he was dying and tracked US down.
Well then, I guess I’d say, how sad!
Not knowing her whereabouts wasn’t the case here. Her mother wasn’t missing, hadn’t split without leaving a forwarding address.
And if my mother was pissed about a periodic check on her welfare, I’d take the risk of pissing her off. People who refuse help sometimes, underline “sometimes,” are the ones who need it most.
So, what does it say about Dr. Laura that her own mother didn’t want anything to do with her?
It says that you didn’t read the entire story…
Every attempt to demonize Dr Laura because of her estranged relationship with her mother is just way over the top. I note that her mother, it appears ,lived in a pretty well to do neighbourhood, hence financially well off. How long does anyone continually allow themselves to be rejected by a loved one before they just give up? Let him who is with out guilt cast the first stone.
I don’t know Dr Laura from Adam, but I do know about strained relationships. If someone chooses to shut you out, if that was the case, then the shutee sometimes will choose to “give them space,” until time heals a bit. Unfortunately, bad things can happen during this time, and the shutee ends up looking like a shit. I can’t give an opinion about this story, due to a lack of knowledge of the true relationship, but it is sad nonetheless.
To those who are piling on Dr. Laura about this take a note. NO ONE checked on the woman for months. (BTW, I am not a fan of Dr. Laura. In fact I listened to her show twice and just ignored it after that. It was a bunch of crap) Anyway, the fact that she didn’t have any family or friends checking on her or visiting for months points to the woman cutting off contact with everyone. The fact that it took the neighbors months to realize that something was wrong also points to the woman being reclusive. If it was just Dr. Laura that was cut off the woman would most likely still have friends.
It’s a sad story but it sounds like this woman cut off contact. It does happen.
Slee
Whether or not this swamp sow had any contact with her mother (or whose decision it was) is not the main point. Its sad. Nothing more.
The real question is: Who is their right mind would heed the moral advice of a woman who 1) posed nude (shudder!), 2) had a son who was, at best, a juvenile delinquent, 3) allowed her hatred of homosexuals to kill the golden goose of a TV program, and 4) whizzed off her own mom to the point where the old bag shut herself up in a sealed house?!
Physiologist - heal thyself.