I Guess I Did Okay.......

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I just recently asked my grown daughter about her childhood. I can honestly say that she answered in a way that I didn't expect. She said her childhood had been good even though there were many ups and downs within our immediate family. She knew that I saw to it that she had everything she needed and tried to give her everything she wanted, within reason. Her father, my husband, became disabled when she was eight years old. He could no longer work which put the entire burden on me for several years. I worked a 24/7, 365 low paying job. I did my best to keep up with everything going on in her life, with school activities and such, and trying to cope with and learn about her father's illness (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from his tour in Vietnam and twenty years ago PTSD wasn't as well known as it is today). She catagorizes her childhood in two different stages: before Dad got sick and after Dad got sick. She said that when her peers always found it facinating that she had a stay-at-home dad. I can say that all is pretty good now. My husband is permanently diabled and will be dealing with his illiness for the rest of his life. Almost twenty years has passed since his first episode took place, something that changed our lives forever. I'm grateful that our daughter has accomplished all that she has, though I know it was hard for her. She admires me for all I've done for her as well as her father. I read on her MySpace page that I am her hero. Pretty great feeling, even if I do say so myself!