The twins are almost 16. James is doing incredibly well. We found a school that he absolutely loves. They teach life skills as well as academics and he couldn’t be happier. It’s a boarding school off the grid a a couple miles from the ocean and tucked in some woods. It’s a very small school and his teacher and principal are well educated and experienced in special ed. They claim he’s their hardest worker and always the first to volunteer to help someone. They also say he’s 100% on board for everything. Whether it’s an outing or an activity or getting up front at church for a music concert he’s all in. Always. It’s his second year there. He comes home for home leave every month and all summer. It’s a 5 hour drive to the school from here.
Missy lives at the opposite corner of the state. It’s 4 hours from here. She’s in a group home for special needs kids. There’s actually one other girl in the home. She attends high school and has therapy and caregivers pretty much around the clock. We see her monthly. She has been there one year. I can honestly say it has taken a full year for me to feel normal again. I still struggle with anxiety and a little ptsd related to her occasionally. We talk in the phone weekly. Her health is not as good as I wish. She has gained a lot of weight and tears up her skin to the point of 40 to 60 bandaids needed for wound care daily. This program is working far better for her than living here. She does like it and they cater to her wishes and her lack of drive far more than I wish but it’s okay. She is who she is. The honeymoon was long but she pretty much carries on with her old behaviors... thus the continual therapy.
Vanessa is married, living in New Mexico and has a baby girl. Our first grand daughter. Brianna is in university in Tennessee. Christina is Cut Flower Farming here at home. We have recently purchased a plot of certified organic farmland and will be building a home out there soon. The young boys- Duckie and Buddy or whatever we called them way back then are now 7 and 8 and they still spend time with us most weekends and even join us on vacation, etc... they are doing well.
Obviously I lost the joy of blogging sometime ago. You can find me on Instagram under Angela Ford , though there’s a million of us... so my tag name currently is Rootsreachingdeep. I love to take photos, chronical our lives - home renovations, new building project, diy and flowers and gardening.
