Hi all,
I just wanted to give a quick update to those of you who have been so kind and supportive during my struggles dealing with the situation with my teen daughter and her decision recently to religiously shun me.
I wanted to let you know that, with much support of the people around me, I recently decided that this is just not a decision she is able to legally make at the age of sixteen, and I spoke with her father (with whom she is currently living) and told him that I believed the court would support my position. With no desire on his part to find out, (and I am sure, remembering he promised the court I would have access to her after she moved...) he agreed to arrange regularly scheduled phone/chat/email contact with my daughter.
Tonight is my first visit with her under the new plan, we plan to chat online (not only less awkward silences than the phone or Skype since she is angry at me right now, but also her stepfather can be in the chat as well and she won't treat him the way she might treat me since he isn't being shunned. It's...complicated.)
I would say that I am nervous (because I am) but I am really more excited. Aside from a few short emails in the past few days I haven't spoken to her since the 10th of May. Even though I don't expect it to go well, I am going in with the attitude that this is going to be a normal conversation on my part about everything BUT religion which I have no interest in discussing and a building block for the future. I'll ask what she's been doing this summer, if she is looking forward to starting public high school in the fall (she's been homeschooled/online schooled until now) and all of that.
I hope you all wish me luck...I'll take all I can get. As long as I can keep some small line of communication open I can hold onto hope that maybe in the future things will change. This is my only child. I will not give her up without the fight of my life.
In other news before I go-- I have had so much going on in my life this week I don't even know how to talk about it, or if I even should. Suffice it to say that I received some incredible validation for GODSPEED this week, beyond my wildest dreams validation...and even though I chose for many very personal reasons to continue on the path I started out on, let me only say this...it is awfully nice to be asked to the dance, even if you can't accept the invitation.
I'm feeling very grateful, to receive feedback like I have this week. Humbled, and grateful.
Overall support for the book has been amazing, and if you've read it and enjoyed it I really hope you'll drop me a line at fireworksflowers at g mail dot com and let me know. Alternately you can pop over to the brand new (and still under construction) GODSPEED blog and comment there. I would love to hear from you.
Also: a Goodreads giveaway for a couple print copies is in the works...stay tuned!
xoxo
bru
PS A special thank you to author Laura Diamond, for the kind mention yesterday in her INDIEpendence day blogfest post! Thank you, Laura, you are such a gem <3
