Things I feel sorry for:
Her children - they must feel so abandoned by her, and I expect days like Mother’s Day must be difficult for them, particularly as they usually make a fuss of it in school etc
Her mum - taking care of a young child is difficult, and no grandparent expects they’ll be doing it again (full time) once their children are grown up. I expect she gets a lot of difficult questions from the little one about her mum which she struggles to answer.
Sallie - the extent to which I feel sorry for her is limited only to how awful it must feel to not have your children. However, this sympathy is always cut short when we see how little she is doing to change her life and her situation. Making changes isn’t JUST for her... it’s for her children. It’s hard being a parent - you can no longer put yourself first: Having a hard time? Tough tit... get on with it for your kids. Struggling with your emotions? Tough tit... cry at night when the kids are asleep. Want to go on another holiday? Tough tit... you’ve got kids and bills. Want that designer bag? Tough tit... the kids need new school shoes, uniform and bags. Sallie fails to make the right choices when faced with these decisions. And it doesn’t seem as though she’s going to change. Until she does, I won’t feel sorry for her. If she was making good life choices and fighting like hell to get her children back, I’d have more sympathy