Good Evening Everybody:

Just a little happy note.  Today I'm celebrating a very important anniversary.  It's now been exactly one year since my daughter chose to move in with me.  Huzzah!   This is an incredible happy day!  I spoiled her with Ice Cream from Timmy's and a brownie from TAN.  I'm taking her out to supper to celebrate!

It's been turbulent, challenging and full of surprises as she and I have struggled to get to know each other and find a path that works for the two of us as a family.  

Together we've faced huge challenges.  Legal battles that threatened to tear her away from me and throw her back into the maelstrom of her former life.  Added to that were a thousand other problems and issues that have made the past 12 months insanely difficult.  

There is still so much for me to learn as a parent, her to learn as a daughter but with each challenge we grow stronger as a family.  The challenges haven't ended.  I know they never will.  But each and every day we move forward.  We are a family now for real.  Everything that we've been through has made that happen.  We've beaten the odds and faced down everyone who said we couldn't do it.  And for the record, my daughter is fine.  She's 14 and growing fast.  She's smart, she's brave and above all else a part of my life I won't let go of.

It took a long time to find a rhythm that would work for us.   But we've made it a year.