Imagine reading a cheery note from a woman accused of murdering your son, and you can see why Les Severance dreads returning to Texas.

San Angelo veterinarian Wendi Mae Davidson has been charged with poisoning Michael Severance, but she still wrote to Michael’s father in mid-July. The note was in a box of gifts for her son, 11-month-old Shane Michael Severance, and it mentioned her other son.

“Please know how much I am thinking of y’all during these times of trite [sic]. I know how much Mike loved y’all and that is how much I love y’all as well,” Wendi wrote. “I believe family is so very important and after all of this turmoil is over, we will still be a family and I will be very happy to say so.

“Here are some new toys and clothes for baby Shane. Tell him how much I love him. Tristan says he misses him very much. Maybe next time Tristan can come visit, too.

“Love always, Wendi.”

The note and toys came a few days after Wendi sent flowers on Michael’s birthday that she asked be put on his grave in Carroll Plantation.

“Mike, Happy Birthday, Love, Wendi,” an accompanying card read.

Les, who opened the package in front of a Bangor Daily News reporter the day it arrived, couldn’t believe the notes and flowers.

“I just don’t know what to make of this,” the usually quiet man shouted. “Goddamn it! She dumped him in a pond and stabbed him 41 times, and now she wishes him a happy birthday?

“It’s vicious and revolting,” he said with disgust. “Maybe we should respond by saying, ‘Wendi, please take these flowers out to the pond where you buried him.'”

Yet, Les must attend a hearing on Aug. 19 to create a shared custody arrangement for Shane with Wendi’s parents, Judi and Lloyd Davidson. A court order requires Shane’s return to San Angelo by Aug. 23.

Les doubts that Wendi will be there, but still, “If there was a way out of it, I wouldn’t go,” he said.

Les admitted his worldview has changed since he returned from San Angelo and Abilene in mid-June. He has learned, he said, that strangers can be wonderful friends, that police are not always competent, that in-laws can be vicious and deceitful.

And accused murderers sometimes write bizarre notes.

“I was naive,” Les said sadly. “The world is not round like I thought it was. It’s square.”