Dearest Dad, Elwin Joseph Ziska, December 2012:
I wanted to take a moment to write you a personal note for
Christmas. To my dad, my protector, my hero when I was growing up, to a man I
admire and respect…Dearest dad you’re a man of integrity, honesty,
intelligence, and always did the right thing! You are a rare and precious person in my life and I
want to thank you for all that you have given me… all you’ve done for me and for your
unconditional love!
You wrote me letters while I was at boarding school, those
letters full of encouragement acknowledgment bits of wisdom and full of love
were so cherished by me and at such a critical time in my life… When most people were just getting letters
from their mother or their friends or their sisters and brothers every now and
then…..always made sure to write me…..all the time…. your diligence in making
sure that I knew I was loved that you are still in my life and that you valued me as your eldest daughter made a huge
impact on my feelings of safety and security , of my knowledge in the love my
family had for me, and in branching off
on my own starting at 14 years old…I was
far away from Ras Tanura… at
Villa Maria… but I never felt lonely or forgotten…. And I want to thank you for that…
Dad, they say that the way a father treats his daughter shows
a young girl her how most men act… I was
really blessed to have you as an example
of what a man should be like…
your entire character, and living
by your example …. It was great growing
up with an ideal father! I even had a
discussion about how easy it was for me to believe in God as my father…. Because I had a great
father… it was easy to know that if God was like my father… he would want me
to have a great life, would want me to
be happy and protected and to follow my passion and do have a
career that never made me feel like I
was working…. But was one I really enjoyed…. I remember you talking to me about
choices… and how it was so important for us to make two really important
choices in our lives…. That would
affect your home life and our work life….….
The first important choice was who we would marry… who we
chose to share our lives with… to fall in love with … to have families with….
And the second
choice…. That was so important… was to
choose a profession that we loved… to follow our passions… and to choose a
career where you loved it so much it didn’t feel like work…. Like a hobby but
you got paid for it… and a career
where you couldn’t wait to get up in the morning to continue what you had
started the day before…. And to do it with purpose… and to do it well… you
You demonstrated integrity…. And always wanted us to do our
best…. Whether it was art, or grades or
sports… or hobbies… and you always made us feel valued and our projects feel
important…. I don’t know where all our
art projects went when you “took them to work”… but you must have known the
impression you made on our daughters… was enormous…..
I can’t thank you enough for the opportunity you gave our family
by being able to grow up in such a wonderful safe environment as Aramco in
Saudi Arabia! The opportunities I’ve had over my lifetime started with the
choices you and mom made to better our lives… to offer an abundance of
opportunities and to provide us with such an amazing way to grow up!
The opportunity of school in Europe…. school in France…. was
the opportunity of a lifetime! The bonus of the additional ticket you gave me
so that I could always have a return trip to Europe, the bank account you set
up for me, verifying /interviewing… and checking out all my friends for me, I
just want to thank you over and over again for blessing my life, for being my
father, for protecting me from harm, for being the best dad ever!
At this Christmas time, I just want you to know how much you
are loved, how much you are valued, and what a great and wonderful father and parent
you’ve been!
They say the girls learn about relationships from their
parents and learn about what a true husband and father would be from their
fathers… In you….. You exhibited your
character existing of… honesty, your
truthfulness, your work ethic, your honor, respect for women, respect for
education, your belief in your daughter’s and their possibility for future
careers, your manners, your even temper, and dry sense of
humor, for all that you are I thank you… You’re an amazing example of what a
true father and what example of husband should be… (I think that is why Maura was able to find
such a great husband in Eric Christu …. He is a lot like you in character… and
probably why it is so hard for Mattie and I t find a guy who would live up to
your honesty and integrity…. HA!) You
always made us feel safe and protected… and you protected mom and us from any
harm… You provided us with a childhood
of abundance… with everything we could have possibly ever wanted or needed…
with the same love you always showed us…. And I want to thank you for all of
that!
If it had not been your choice of going to Saudi Arabia to
work with Aramco we may not have gotten to see the taj mahal or the Egyptian pyramid…
To go on an African safari or to travel through Europe on an adventure… If it
had not been for your choice of going to Aramco we would’ve never lived on the
Persian Gulf, had horses to ride on the beach…. Right on the Persian Gulf, or
had the opportunity to get our real German Shepard dog (nipper) …. In Germany! ….So many wonderful experiences that most
people never have in their entire life you gave us all of that and more… in the
most amazing childhood…. How can I put
it into words how you were able to shape and mold our lives and how you were
able to provide us with such an amazing life and experiences while
growing up!
So many people have been jealous of the things we are able
to do or even some of the possessions we are able to have but the most
important was having a loving family and a dad who instilled confidence, helped
us to achieve goals, exhibited an excellence in his way of life… that didn’t
contradict anything that he told us… He taught us it was best to be honest and
truthful when so many people would lie cheat and steal …… You taught us that men
were to respect women, and showed us manners like holding open doors… or protecting us from harm….it amazing… that today
so many people just aren’t raised with the great morals, values and integrity
grandma and grandpa Ziska taught you! I am
constantly amazed at the difference in people’s families and how they were
raised and in the father and mother they were blessed with…
I must say that my parents were my blessing…. A huge
blessing and I want to thank you every day for being a person I can count on,
someone I could believe in, and a true man of honor and integrity and
excellence!
These past 13 years have been the worst of my life filled
with the worst experiences and filled with people of unsavory character who are
full of lies, cheating, stealing, and manipulation…
I feel like I must have been an obvious target…. I was raised to live in a world that was
devoid of crime… that had other people like you dad… I honestly believed there had to be more great people
like you in the world… and I was and still am shocked at the depraved and
revolting people who do exist… who ruin lives and harm people on purpose… and
who are sooo horrid…. They manipulate
conversations to make you look bad… or feel bad… they will bully or lie or
cheat and steal to get what they want without t any care how they hurt
others… they are callous and ruthless people
who are not good or great in any respect….
And I wish there were more people like you… or
who were raised with the same honorable values and integrity and the “do right
attitude” you have…. Because I regret every moment of every day… of meeting any
of them….
Each and every time I was hurt by any of them I would
remember what a real genuine loving father was like… And I would remember how
much you loved us… provided for us… and how so very different these people are
from anyone I grew up with or knew
in my life…. these horrible people who would lie, cheat, and steal …… sooooo
different from anyone I’d ever known
growing up in Saudi Arabia, how different they were from anyone I’d ever wanted
in my life… and they are not people I
should have ever had in my life….
Because of the horrid events of these past 13 years…. I
think about… and wonder what would’ve happened:
I wonder if I should have changed schools… to go to miss
porters when I went to visit Kathy Young…
at 16…. And never had my last year of high school here in Naples… would that have changed my destiny… and kept
me protected from ever coming in contact
with the criminal scumm who stole
my identity… who stole my life.. Who stole my businesses… my hopes and my
dreams… and permanently ruined my life…
I wonder what would’ve happened if you’d bought the condo in
California when we’re looking at colleges in California …. And instead of going
to the University of Florida… went to college in California…… I wonder what
would’ve happened would that have changed destiny…. Again….
I wonder what
would’ve happened if I just stayed at school in France where I was protected
and where the people were genuine, honest , trustworthy… and nice….the kind of
real friends who would never have even thought of hurting me…
my life or of stealing from me or my family…
I wonder if in 1999
we had selected the other condo here in the strand… the one not under the Russo
boys…. Would my life have been safe? … My condo been safe? My possessions been
safe? My identity and my credit … been
safe? Would I have been safe and protected instead of having to live through the worst
experiences of my life… and the total
devastation of my life…. for the last 13 years …. Would that have been enough
to have stopped all of this from ever happening?
I pray every night for
them to die so they will never be
allowed to ever harm another person or family
as they did me or my family…. Ever again… I have tried my best to stop
them but I am only one person … and
they are criminals… they think
and act differently than anyone I have ever known… and every time they violate my life… I am
shocked, stunned… and devastated….
I want to thank you for everything you’ve given me over my
life I’m so sorry that scummy criminals and low life disgusting deceitful
worthless human beings hurt lives on purpose… And hurt my life on purpose… For
these last 13 years…
Thank you for believing in me… in any choice of my future… And believing in the faux painting business,
my capacity for business…. And the business I started ….with plans to continue
with interior design school … or an MBA….. thank you for your support and encouragement
in a gift and skill/talent I didn’t even know I had…. and for becoming my
number one fan…: Thank you for the opportunity of letting us get to know each
other better when you lived here protecting me from harm… for sharing in the
bible CD’s and opening your heart and showing me that a real man can believe in
God… and the stories of the Bible… and still be strong and intelligent and a
great DAD… Thank you, For writing me a
letter when I was at school in France
and wanting me to go skiing with you in the Alps… even though I was not a good skier …. At
all…. Ha! Thank you for the
opportunities you provided…. Me… for protecting me from jealous and evil
people… and for all your love and friendship….
You are an amazing man and I want to thank you for being my
father!
You were able to retire at 50… and able to achieve all your
goals… financially and personally… you were a great example…. Of what is possible with hard work and a
plan…. One of your famous quotes about selecting a path to get to a
destination…. “Otherwise any path will do….” Influenced me in my goals and planning …. And
even helped when I wrote a business plan or even created websites for mom’s
start of an etiquette school… or even for my websites and blogs… www.mysearchforjustice.com, www.mysearchforjustice.com
No matter what happens no one can ever take away the
opportunities you gave me, and Maura and Mattie in our childhood…. the
unconditional and overflowing love provided for us… And for having a great Dad
to grow up with….
Kathy’s Young’s father just died recently and I know they
were really close…a lot of my friends
have lost one or more of their parents… The memories of having a great dad will live
on forever with her, just as all the
memories I have of my dad will live on forever with me…
I will always remember and chuckle at the way when I was six
or seven years old you reprimanded Kathy and I for cooking my Barbie doll food…
in my bedroom in our first house…. Your calm yet stern approach
to discipline… and to our “teachable lessons”…. You somehow instilled in us a desire to want
to do better and to be better people…. I’ll always remember the plans I drew for the
elaborate tree house that was turned into a Playhouse at the side of our first
house in Saudi… and your intent interest as I explained the different elaborate
rooms… (My version something like the Swiss
family Robinson movie I had just seen… Ha!) …. I’ll always remember your
commanding voice that terrified Steven Stegana(sp?) and
Jimmy Hill and a few other boys…. And
when a simple game of “war” Kathy young and I agreed to play with the boys …. changed …. After we (the girls)
changed the rules of the game…. … the boys disagreed… with our new rules… Until you came in to settle the dispute….
HA! Your presence gave us security, safety and a true
knowing that nothing could ever hurt us… You were so big and strong…. And made us
feel so safe… actually later in my life… it is that feeling of safety and
security… that knowing it even existed … that growing up in a great environment…
Dad, I knew it was special… but I had no idea…how special it was… and I want
to thank you for that! Some people never
had the security of having a dad they
could rely on…. And I did …. Dad I want to thank you over and over for being a
great father….
Dad, I don’t know if
you knew… but we did well in school, or sports, or even keeping our room clean
to make you proud and I hope at the end of the day the pride you have in your
daughter’s still exists as you had a big part in helping us achieve and become
the women we are today!
I hate that I
wasn’t allowed to become the woman I was
meant to be… it feels like I was just getting started when it was all ripped
away….and my life was ruined by criminal
scum… I know the entire blame rests on
the criminals and con-artists of these past
13 years….. But the pride you had in who I was supposed
to be… of what I could have accomplished… I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to achieve all my
goals… and my hopes and dreams… and of one day being able to really bless you
…
I even had it on a list of goals…. To bless you… to bless mom and to bless my
sisters… and extended family and friends…. I actually expected
to have such a great and successful
life that I would have been able to
bless you… and to bless you with so
much…. making sure your retirement was peaceful, happy and to somehow I would be able to properly thank you for all that you had given
me… I had wanted to make sure both you and mom
were happy in your retirement… (
I even imagined that I could buy you
each a condo in the Remington… like the Rockett’s… but each of you would get a
condo in the Remington at bay colony but on opposite side of the
building..HA! … Your life Dad, made such
a huge impact on my life in a positive way…. and I want to thank you for
that….
Speaking of pride, and the pride we had in you … and you had
in your daughters…. if there are things
I could take back or somehow change … I wish there had been no criminals, who picked
on me or my family starting from when I
moved into the strand… I found out this
past year about all the damage that was done to my life, my credit, by criminals,
con artists and worthless loser disgusting scum… Dad you wouldn’t believe what
they’ve done… From the moment we purchased the condo for my future ….for a
great future here in The Strand…. for $132,000 according to court records…
They’ve been creating false mortgages and stealing money… It came to over
$200,000 in false mortgages using my name and my Social Security… They’ve
stolen my name and ruined credit cards by duplicating those credit cards, by
creating false phone accounts and most recently… someone tried and may have
succeeded in actually opening up a bank account in October 2012 …. In my name
using my Social Security number at Regions Bank…
I think that everything you and many others may have tried
to bless me with ….. … Whether it was opportunities, or gifts… or
possessions… I think the little slimy disgusting impostor con artists
criminal scumbags somehow they were able
to manipulate and steal it away from me…
and in doing so they changed my destiny and my life…. in the process….
They actually stole the diamond earrings and pearl earrings
you bought for me… and gave to me from al Kohabar(sp?) … and both those gifts meant
so much because they were from you….
I was never raised having to deal with such devious,
horrible, worthless, disgusting, people and to be perfectly honest I didn’t
know how to fight let alone fix anything they destroyed…… I’m still not sure if
I know how to fix anything that they’ve destroyed…it might not be
repairable…
I miss my father to
run to ….to fix all boo-boos and make it all better…
But what has transpired… has taken away so many years…. And so
much….. so many horrid experiences…
instead of great experiences or memories… they put me through so many lies so much
manipulation….it would take a team of
great dad’s to put it all back together…
and even in humpty dumpty…. All the kings’ horses and all the kings’ men just
couldn’t put humpty dumpty back together again…. (Not that I am anything like
an egg… head… ha!) and I don’t know how that rhyme came into my thoughts… but I
guess it’s just that these past 13 years
have affected who I am today… and I miss
the safety of Aramco… and the love of
true family and friends….
I miss my family and friends every minute of every day… The
love, kindness, security, and protection of a great family are priceless… I
want to thank you for teaching me values of honesty and integrity, showing me
what a real true father should be ……a man… who elevates the people around him
and makes our lives better by being a part of it… you always put your family
first… and our lives were made better for it… thank you Dad… for all that you
did.. And all that you do for us… now and always….
All my love to you DAD, Merry Christmas 2012 and Happy New
Year 2013!
Luv from Your first
born daughter,
The original and real Mary Jean Ziska Born July 7th
1966!