Thursday, June 21, 2012

Dear "Amy"

I'm slightly at a loss for words, yet I find my brained filled with all kinds I'd like to say to you.  But I'm stunned.

I've got nothing witty.  Nothing cursed.  

But I guess you have found this space of mine on the internet as a place to take images, create fake lives using my little girl, my husband and myself in order to communicate, for whatever reason, with young pregnant mothers.  And I'm disturbed to my core.  

I've reported you before when you claimed the same name, same images, same story.  And facebook removed you.  But you popped up again.  And I have a feeling that you will continue to pop up!  Over and OVER and OVER again.  

But I refuse to be your victim.  

I imagine you could be someone far away bored, and creating stories using many people's images.  And you get a kick out of watching them vent, and rant, and rave against you.  Like it's a thrill.  

Or maybe, you were a young mom.  One who lost her baby, so you've created an imagination to replace your reality.  Maybe.

But worse, you could be a very bad guy with cruel intentions out to hurt people.  

But this is ultimately what I have to say:

You have stolen some of the most precious images of my little girl and called her "Your Gracie".  You have claimed the intimate images of me pregnant and plastered your name all over them.  You label the handsome pictures of my husband and call him Darren.  You have taken what is mine and created a false world to reach innocent people.  

BUT

I am the one who gets to know that little girl.

I am the one who gets to hold her the way you claim you do.

I am the one who gets the chance to see her heart.

I am the one who gets to hear her soft voice say "I love you mommy".  

I am the one who gets to touch the face of the man you claim to be your husband.  

I am the one who gets to feel his arms wrapped around me.

I am the one who gets to hear that man say "I love you."

I am the one who gets to run her fingers through the hair you envy.

I am the one who lives the life of the ones in the pictures you use.  I am the one who has the talent to capture MY FAMILY in such a way that has drawn you to it.    

And although the images of the ones I love the most are being violated, reproduced, and re-purposed, the inner depth of who they are are intact, protected, and very much still in the GRACE of MY SAVIOR.

All of that you CANNOT steal from me.  

So, dear "Amy Wilson Baker",

I know this is the place you have used to collect your images.  So please read this... 

I know you are out there.  I know you have been out there.  I know you will continue to try to be out there. 

I know.

_________________________________________***** _________________________________________

To my readers.  Know that this is REAL.  VERY REAL.  And it could be happening to you.  I was lucky, that although one of my readers is the one stealing the images, many of the other readers were the ones who caught the "fake" and presented me with the information.  And this action is causing me to reevaluate this blog and my family's privacy.  


20 comments:

  1. Ok. That's just eerie! Oh man. I'm so glad that someone tracked this down for you. It surely makes me second guess what I share as well. Thanks for posting..

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  2. Wow Jhen! I can not believe that! I am so sorry... Now I am totally freaked out.

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  3. What the crap!? **Christian side coming out** you have to have a pretty pathetic life if you feel stealing the life of someone else's all the way down to every last detail will fulfill it.

    Did you look into and report the 'Darren' profile as well? I don't know how people stumbled on this to let you know, but glad they did.

    This is why G-man doesn't like or want his face or his life on the internet. Too many dumb crazies who might see and take it.

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  4. This is really really icky. I wonder how often things like this happen. I'm so very sorry this has happened to you.

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  5. Watermark your photos! It can be annoying and isn't the timeliest thing, but it prevents things like this.

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  6. Oh wow. This is so scary. Goosebumps. Thanks for the heads up on the crazies out there!

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  7. I'm a quiet reader, so I don't comment often. I am so terribly sorry this has happened to you. Thanks for making us all aware that this happens. Bloggers should occasionally Google themselves. I'm praying for you and your family. I hope this is harmless, but just take necessary precautions for your family. I think I read something a while back on Kelly's Korner that she dealt with something similar. She started putting watermarks on her photos. Maybe you could do this as well? My cousin had this happen as well. She put her blog on private for a few months and then reopened it. I think it helped. Good luck!

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  8. I am so sorry this has happened to you. I've unfortunately seen this happen to one too many bloggers lately. I just don't understand and will never understand what type of person would do something like this. I hope that this "Amy" stops what she is doing, blogging should be a safe haven to share your hopes and dreams with dear friends and not to be taken advantage of by sick individuals.

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  9. Oh this makes me so, so sick for you! Makes me sad that there are people out there like that. Makes me question the privacy of my blog as well!

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  10. Oh my gosh. Makes me sick. And I might have to make my blog private now. Yikes. I'm so sorry!

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  11. I can't believe this happened to you! It makes me worry that it could happen to anyone. I'm so sorry Jhen.

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  12. Oh my god!!! I can't believe people and I am so sorry that this happened to you!!! I am always paranoid about this kind of thing and worry about this stuff. Definitely making me question the privacy of my blog or what I put on it.

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  13. This is so scary! At one point I coded my blog so that no one could copy anything (images or text) from my blog. I might go back and do that again.

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  14. This is so horrible Jhen. I'm so sorry that she is doing this again! That is so messed up. But you are right, you have your sweet family, not her. You're the one that gets to be with them! I know wordpress has a feature that doesn't allow you to right click and save images on blogs. I'd hate to see less of you and your amazing work!

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  15. wow! that is creepy, not fair for you and your family. good thing you were informed and hopefully they will stop.

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  16. this is so sad to read but thank you for posting it!!! I wrote a blog myself about this because it's now encouraged me to change the way I blog. Good for you for plowing through and making the neccesary changes to protect your family.

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  17. Oh my gosh....all i can say is that people are so sick these days and really need to get a LIFE !! I am sorry that this happened to you!

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  18. This is crazy! It never even crossed my mind that someone would do something like this! This is definitely an eye opener for me! I'm glad you decided to keep blogging, because it's refreshing to have other young ladies sharing their faith through their corner of the internet. Though I usually don't comment, I enjoy your photos and posts. I know it would be hard to not be hurt and angry about this, but be thankful that you have been blessed with a beautiful family and a life that others would love to have. So very sorry!
    Britney
    http://long-road-to-somewhere.blogspot.com/

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  19. Wow. That's so awful. :( I recently experienced that, but just with one photo. Some woman posted it on her page on FB, and claimed my little girl was hers. So creepy, and so mind boggling. I really don't understand why someone would do that.

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