Mark shared yet another recycled meme today—this time quoting Brad Pitt (not the first time and probably not the last), lamenting a “vindictive ex” who supposedly destroyed a relationship and left the children to suffer. It’s an easy narrative, a tidy little box he can climb into whenever reality feels too heavy. After all, playing the victim requires far less effort than doing the actual work.

But let’s pause and remember what really happened. Every professional in his orbit—therapists, doctors, case managers, guardians ad litem—begged him to make changes. They mapped out a clear, unmistakable path for him to reestablish contact with his kids. The courts affirmed that path, laying it out step by step. The only thing left was for him to take those steps.

He hasn’t.

It’s been [days_since_start start=”2023-11-17″] days since he was first given the clear path to start the process of getting protection order protecting his children from him reduced, or dropped.

He hasn’t asked how his children are in the court-approved communication tool. He hasn’t followed through with evaluations. He hasn’t engaged with journal entries or even basic updates. He logged into OFW once, then logged back out, as if even the smallest act of connection was too much to bear.

Meanwhile, Melissa—carrying the weight of both parenting and constant counter-parenting—was left to remind, encourage, and even beg him to show some effort. Eventually the Guardian ad Litem reached out to Melissa and advised her to stop asking him to do the work, because it had become clear: he would not.

That’s not alienation. That’s abdication.

The cruelest irony of his meme is how it inverts reality. The kids aren’t suffering the consequences of Melissa’s actions. They are suffering the consequences of his inaction. They are living with the weight of promises never kept, steps never taken, and a father who prefers posting memes about fatherhood to actually being one.

The record is clear. The excuses are endless. And the truth will always outlast the meme.