Visible horizon: right where it starts it ends

- Phoenix

I always get so schmaltzy when I write here. I guess that's okay, though; if you guys are in it for THE LOLZ, there are plenty of other websites. That said:

Nothing makes me happier than when my dad says that he's proud of me. He has been forced to grow a lot in the last four (FOUR?!) years since my mom died, and we have grown a lot as a pair. A lot of things could have gone wrong, or at least not gone well; but with a commitment to each other and faith in God, he and I have a real father-daughter relationship. This is not condescending: I'm proud of his pride in me, I'm proud of him as a person, and I'm happy that this is our life. We did good work. Add in my brothers and their wives and all the things they have undertaken since Mom died (so. many. baby. boys!) - the family has been through a lot, and we have done it together. We made it work.

My stepmother and her family are a happy addition to that "together," absolutely. They have been so willing to form a new family with us, even though I'm all moody and emotionally battered, my dad's all sad about this other woman (my brothers are nicer/more easy going than Dad and I) and, this is true of all of us: we're not dog people. 


I still have bad/sad/frustrating/wallow-y days (see: entire blog). I still have plenty to work on. Some days, I strongly resemble a hot mess. But to see where Ann's family is today, knowing where we were and where we could so easily be: we have been good teammates to each other, and that made this process easy.

Which makes us lucky birds.