I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop staring at her I knew time would stand still I knew I would fall in love I knew I would be in awe of her developing mind I knew I would relish in every precious moment I knew presence would come, oh so easily I knew she would bring abundant joy to our family   What I didn’t know is, how speechless I would be when I saw my daughter with her What I didn’t know is, how intensely my son-in-law would stare at her with the deepest love What I didn’

As a child I remember warm Florida afternoons playing outside with my sister and friends.  My mother was inside making dinner, with a glass of wine, as he arrived home.   My father's childhood wounds had left him distant, bitter, and unaffectionate.  My mother’s glass of wine, turned into two, then three.  This all seemed “typical” to me at the time, but looking back now, I see brokenness, anxiety, and addiction.  Six blocks down the street my future father-in-law was raisin