One year later

    It has been one year this month since William's mother left. Things have changed for us a lot. William tells me all of the time that he misses his grandpa. He also tells me he misses his cousins and his sisters and brother. He does not get to see his older sister at all any more and doesn't get to see his other siblings as much as he did when they lived with me. He also tells me that he doesn't get to see grandma as much anymore either. I try to keep things as normal in my house as I can. He still takes care of his dog Lucky. They are really starting to become buddies. Lucky follows William downstairs to play XBOX now. He just lays down there and watches him play. William always invites him to go with him to play. Things have gotten harder and easier over the last year. There is much less pressure then before and I can just have fun now. I am not worried about taking care of everyone because that was a lot of pressure that was not appreciated by some. I have someone in my life now that appreciates the small things that I do and makes me feel wonderful because I do them for her. I have learned a lot over the last year about not knowing the people that are close to you and the lies that they tell to make themselves feel better. Having someone in your life for such a long time to find out that they were a convicted criminal. Trust is a fragile thing and once broken can not be repaired easily especially if the other person doesn't care because they found something else to focus on.

    I try to do the things that were important to me before I met William's mom with coaching, mentoring FIRST robotics, and habitat for humanity. These things bring me joy and she was always insecure because I did these things. She eventually took them away from me and took a lot of the joy out of my life. I did get some different joy in my life but I should have never had to choose. I now have someone that encourages me to follow my dreams and joys. I still find myself checking all of the time to make sure that she is still okay with me participating. What an amazing feeling to have someone tell me she is proud of me for being a mentor and teaching kids. She told me that she couldn't think of anyone better. Life has changed so much.

Life keeps going with or without you find a way to make a difference today in someone's life.

Your Loving Dad