How good that you are finding support in unexpected corners. The first year is nigh on impossible, and we have so much to be thankful for just getting through it.

I'm really pleased that your daughter is able to talk with her friends about this, too. That takes incredible guts.

Best wishes for your meeting on Monday. It sounds as if you may have found a real, in-person ally. What a blessing!

Thanks. Our daughter's friend was severely anorexic at the beginning of last year so the parents have some idea of the challenges we are facing, though our situation has so many more layers of complexity to it. The mother knows what help is available to us through the medical system and just wants to offer whatever support she can and has said I can ring whenever I want to. Haven't even met her yet but I know that our daughters get on really well.

Just grateful we are growing as a family and learning how to survive. My health is not the best though and I am having more issues with my hand following my recent fall. Not sure if it's a side effect of the medication, changing to a different bed this week that doesn't agree with me or one of the other symptoms of this condition. See my doctor and physio this week.

Off to look at more houses. Still no nibbles for ours though. It's a buyer's market. Here's hoping.

Nerve issues can morph and act up in unpredictable ways. The reconnecting process sometimes short circuits. Glad you'll be seeing your MD/PT this week.

One year down is an awesome start. There are heavier day ahead, and it will take years. I am sorry for that, I have learned however that coming out after these ordeal and still having our children with us and growing is the best reward we can hope for. Just to give some insight maybe for some with smaller children, I have asked my daughter recently in one of those rare moments when the time seemed right, if she allows any of her past to creep in and disrupt her positive attitude. She is very resilient, very pretty and works in a cancer treatment center....she was 5 when it all started and continued for a few years, the molestation, and I realize some cases are by far worse than my own.....but she made me stop and think about it more clearly...she said it is kinda a fog to her...it was at the time and it is now...she does not think about it, does not let it control her nor define her now...simple or denial....in her case I don't believe so...heres why....I did not have the greatest childhood but I was never molested. My parents were alcoholics, functioning alcoholics, both worked but in a loveless marriage and fought all the time, to the point of us kids hiding sharp objects because we thought our MOM would hurt our DAD...it sounds crazy now, but times were very different...my point is tho I never let it affect who I was as an adult..yes there was turmoil and anger when I was a teen, but I never made excuses or held it against my parents...I know much different damage,,,,but the point is...through all the bad stuff I dealt with, I knew in my heart that my parents loved me....and that is what my daughter told me as well.....both of them knew that their parents loved them and adored them and had we been aware we would have done something....but the truth is...WE DID NOT KNOW...and none of you did either. At some point we have to stop beating ourselves up for not knowing and realize their is a predator.....one that is wholly responsible for your child...and the damage inflicted....children have such a resiliency that with time they will heal. I speak from experience but us and the pain we cause ourselves is exactly how the perp got into their heads in the first place. So please show your children all the positive of life, all the love you have, give them some normalcy to compare something to so they can in fact move forward and you give yourself a break as well. Go after them legally get justice do what you have to do but do not allow them anymore control over you or the situation. It will take time to reach this point and there are dark days..but the light will shine through if we pull back the covers a little bit at a time. It is not about forgetting or denial or forgiving, it is about reminding ourselves to live and embrace what we have left. I hope this helps some of you as your pain is overcoming your life, and certainly allowed but to move past it we have to let it go.....not the perp just the reminder everyday of what happened....we cannot take back yesterday...only work towards tomorrow....maybe its all to sappy for someof you now but there will be a time when you will see that. Peace within to us all.

A wonderful, necessary reminder. Thank you, CM.

You all give me so much hope. Just what I needed this morning. Blessings on your journey's.

Congrats on surviving your first year and remaining intact! As Cathmathy says, it is not over but you have built a very solid foundation on which to heal your daughters , yourself and your husband. I know that your family will make it. The strength that I see in your words and your actions with your family tells me so.

Bless you all, Laura