Dear Eric: Our granddaughter has been seriously dating her beau for nearly eight years. He is 35 and she is 30. A week ago, he was found to have a brain tumor. His mother will not allow her to see him at the hospital. Granddaughter is devastated. His mother was verbally abusive to our granddaughter.
Does his mother have the right to keep her from visiting him at the hospital? Mother is vicious with her words and adamant. Granddaughter communicates with one of his cousins, checking on him. But she only wants to be able to tell her beau that she loves him. His fate is unknown. Any advice from you would be greatly appreciated.
—Locked Out
Dear Locked Out: I’m so sorry about this. It appears that the mother’s shock and grief are manifesting in a way that’s neither fair nor kind to your granddaughter. As his blood relation, she can dictate who has access to her son, depending on the hospital’s policy. Your granddaughter may want to reach out to hospital administration to see what their policy is and if there’s an option for her within its scope.
Another option is to write the beau a letter and get it to him through the cousin. Or ask the cousin to FaceTime from the hospital, if the beau is able to communicate. It’s not ideal, but your granddaughter need not subject herself to more vitriol from the mother.
(Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.)
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