How Do I Do This?

OK, so I'm not Rick. I'm just someone who cares about him, and, by extension, his son. (His ex-wife, not so much. She can take care of herself.) My question is, how do you go about caring about a little boy who is 2600 miles away, when the boy's mother, and the court, say that it's fine that you don't --indeed, that you should not--care about him (but keep paying that child support, BTW)?

I am a former day care provider, a former child protective caseworker, and a mother to two wonderful grown sons. I cannot countenance a court system in which a father wants to be a part of his son's life, and yet is denied that opportunity, because of a vengeful mother and a court system that believes her tall tales.

I know that when my husband and I separated, we agreed that our children would spend a week with him and a week with me. I chose places to live that would accommodate this agreement. But how do you deal with someone who does not want you in your child's life at all? Who insists that you do not even need to know where your child goes to day care, or for how many days a week, to have "a relationship" with that child? Especially when the "relationship" consists of two, 40-second calls a week. That consist of, "Daddy, I don't want to talk to you." prompted by her reminder that, "Here's Daddy on the phone, but you don't have to talk to him if you don't want to." Sigh.

I don't think this is right. There is a young child, Aiden, who has a father who is willing and able to not only pay child support (which he is completely current with), but WANTS to be a good dad to his son. Why can't he be that dad that his son needs?