Aaron Smith-Levin Upset the Family, Recalls Sister-in-Law Erika

TRANSCRIPT:

I know Aaron because he’s married to my older sister, Heather.

Growing up, Heather was a very, very dynamic person. She was a very go-getter type person. She achieved what she wanted to achieve and she never let anything stop her. You know, when she had a goal, she would just work and work and work until she achieved that goal.

After she met Aaron, she did seem to change in the sense that she was not quite so dynamic. She did seem more withdrawn.

When he would raise his voice or would snap or whatever, get upset, get angry, she would just, kind of like, cower or just withdraw, or just sit and not do anything.

Which was different because she normally would say whatever she felt was correct or incorrect. So to see Aaron yelling at the kids and then her just standing there and just letting it happen, was different.

It wasn’t a happy family sort of scenario. It wasn’t like we enjoyed having him come over.

There was a lot of tension and upsets between my parents and him and between Heather and my parents regarding Aaron and then him choosing to not be a part of our family and to separate from us—because it was his choice.

Our family has always been very close, my brother, my sisters, we’ve grown up very, very close. So we very, very much wanted them to be part of our lives. But Aaron chose not to.

It’s upsetting to my mom, it’s upsetting to my sister, it’s upsetting to my brother.