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Should a grandparent have any rights?

That is a question that I am all to familiar with. When a was s young woman with a young family of my own I watched my parents go through a horrible struggle between my brother and his ex-wife. Every time it was his weekend with the children they would have to meet in a public place and he always brought either me or our mother with him. This went on for months when she suddenly stopped showing up. He went to her house but they had moved and he was not allowed to know where she worked or even where his children went to school. My brother tried talking to the judge but found that since was now living in Nebraska and it was an Iowa court that had handled the divorce and custody of the children that to get any standing in court he would have to go through the courts in Nebraska. He didn't have the money for an attorney. His ex-wife's mother and family lived just seven miles from his mother. She was not even allowed to send them gifts or cards for their birthdays or any holiday nor were they ever given any pictures. When my brother finally got to see his eldest son again he was seventeen and his girlfriend was expecting their baby. Our father died without ever seeing either of those grandchildren again.

Now here it is July of 2007 and I am finding myself walking in my parents very footsteps with my only daughter and our only grandchild. I have been very emotional lately and didn't understand what was happening to me. After three months of tests I ended up having two polyps removed from my Colon and a total hysterectomy. The surgeon found my uterus was completely filled with tumors, I had ovarian cysts grown into the lower bowel along with adhesions from a previous surgery. I came out of surgery fine and waited but my daughter never came by to see me that entire day. The next afternoon went by and she still hadn't came by and so my husband went to see her after I fell asleep.
It turns out that she was upset with me and thought that I was criticizing her to relatives. I hadn't spoken to anyone. Our son was in China. She came in and we talked and I found out that several of her friends ,which I will be quite frank I do not like, had told her some outrageous lies and put my name next to them. I thought we had everything settled when she went home. The next morning the hospital released me and I was able to return home. My daughter called to let me know that she was getting off work Early due to illness.

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