Well, to say I'm 'giddy' is a gross understatement. I was up and down all night long unable to sleep in anticipation of this wonderful day. Today is the day that my only child, my daughter, graduates from High School!! This may seem as no big deal to some, but for me it is a great success story. As with a lot of children in this age of divorce and split families and all the animosity that goes with it, her mother and I, for the most part, made her and her education and future a priority. Among the many choices we made since our divorce was the one we made when she was in 7th grade to take her out of our local school system and we all moved (separately, of course) 45 min. away from here to put her in a better school and away from a lot of the gangbangers and crime that seem to run rampant in most every city nowadays. Living between Chicago and Gary, IN isn't a picnic, so we moved to the 'boonies' for her sake. She was starting to ditch classes and hang out and all the other stuff that goes on at that age and it just got to a point where I was having to leave work early everyday to pick her up 15 min. before everyone else was let go for the day. At first it was really hard because she lashed out with such a verbal barrage against us, refused to even try to make friends (we made her break contact with her old friend's as they were just as bad as she was). She hadn't always been like that, but the attention she got from the boys her age (11, 12, 13 yrs. old) was new to her and she didn't know how to handle all these changes. For us, it became a nightmare. The good news is that she eventually realized that we were'nt going to give in to her and she either had to get her priorities straightened out or it was only gonna get worse. She found an interest in clinical medicine and discovered that her new school had programs geared towards secondary education and careers. She is now graduating with Honors, is already a liscensed CNA, and will be going to college in the fall. Some father's can't wait 'til they don't have to pay child support anymore, I am now at a stage where I dread the fact that she won't need me anymore. But today, I am the happiest Dad in the world!!!
