Chapter 9 - The Passport
The passport itself revealed another failure.
It had been stored in my home safe.
How did Marjorie get it?
I had moved it.
Six months earlier, before a family ski trip, I put Ione’s passport and birth certificate into a travel folder at my parents’ house.
We returned.
I forgot to retrieve the passport.
Marjorie kept it in her locked desk drawer.
Did she steal it?
Not initially.
I gave it for travel.
Then failed to take it back.
When she booked Montréal, she moved it into her purse.
Did she have lawful authority to possess it?
Possession by grandparent is not ownership of parental decision.
Still, no break-in.
No forged key.
No spy story.
I had been careless with a document that enabled movement.
Afterward:
Passport in my safe.
I alone controlled it unless specific trip.
Travel authorizations became trip-specific.
Dates.
Destination.
Contact.
No blanket two-year letters.
Our attorney said:
“You didn’t do anything bizarre the first time.”
“I know.”
“Broad letters are common for recurring family travel.”
“Not anymore for us.”
Specific risk changes systems.
No need to treat every grandparent in America like potential abductor.
Our family had evidence.
May you like
So we adjusted.
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