And I was reminded of that today while at lunch with my youngest daughter.
I obtained custody when I was two years clean, when she was around eight. She remained with me until she went in the military at 18.
She said that because I had strict guidelines for her she’s a better person. She thanked me for not being permissive and lenient with her as she was growing up.
She was referring to the fact that, while I provided her the basics, she had to work for the extras. She also had strict curfews and dress codes. She thinks attending 12-step meetings with me over those years also gave her good principles to live by. She believes the stories she heard at the meetings might have kept her from becoming an addict.
After she was honorably discharged from the military after three years - that included a tour in Afghanistan – she completed an Associate’s degree at Texas Culinary Academy. And then obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from University of Phoenix. She’s now happily married, into physical fitness,
and studies art in her spare time.
I’m so pleased my daughter's grown up to be the woman she is. Again, a blessing of sobriety.
