Hi ! How nice of you to think of me, D3- thank you!
It is wonderful to read your updates and hear your stories.
Yes, 15 years ago for me, too. I was so desperate and frantic when I found this board. It saved my sanity, that's for sure, and I am ever grateful for the life long friends it introduced me to.
I am happy to say that there is not much to report on my end. I am still working (way too hard) and have a new generation of rescue fuzzbutts to keep me company. Like Fran, I've had my own vision issues (but of a different kind) for the last four years and get shots in my left eye every few weeks. Yes, it is as horrifying as it sounds (I miss the old emoticons- imagine me screaming!). I used to check in now and then but this new board is unfortunately very difficult for me to read so it will probably be less frequent.
Rob will be 30 in July! Thank goodness! I prayed so hard that he would survive his teen years and early 20's when he was completely wacky, homeless at times and all over the place. He has been engaged for several years now and they have an (almost) 4 year old daughter. As some might remember, he had a very serious motorcycle accident 3.5 years ago and still deals with the after effects of his Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), short term memory loss, and skewed vision. He has continued to have his struggles with addictive behaviors, now in remission (pleaseGodplease) for almost a year now. We have a guarded but good relationship and I am grateful.
It seems that everywhere I go I still meet people with challenging kids. It's a huge community of bruised but not beaten parents. My newest Admin at work, she just started two weeks ago, has an ex-husband and daughter with bipolar. I always tell people that raising Rob gave me such a huge gift.....the gift of "appreciation." As much as we envied "normal" families when we were sharing our war stories here, they will never ever understand how truly wonderful it is to have ten minutes of peace...or a "normal" phone conversation with a child...or seeing your child hold onto a job, be successful as a parent, pay his bills, all of those things that we consider miracles and other families take for granted. I feel so lucky to understand what it is to appreciate the small miracles in our lives. I hope that if you are not having those miracles in your life now, that they will be there for you soon.
XXX
Suz
PS, I'm still waiting for Richard to contact me...especially now that he is single again! Spread the word when you see him, will you?