Heather and I reconnected about a year and four months ago. I was living in Cheyenne, Wyoming and we decided it would be best if I moved down to Florida. After much discussion, I moved down and in with Heather and her Mom. Heather let me know early on that she came as a package with her mom. I was really nervous about how her mom truly felt about me and how we would all get along living together. We all have a Great relationship and my fears are now gone. Heather had a plane ticket to fly up to Denver so she could drive down to Florida with me. However, the day before she left a nasty winter storm was coming in so I decided to drive out ahead of the storm. It was a pretty rough drive and the storm chased me for a large portion of the trip.
We spent our first New Years Eve together with Our Best Friends, Christie and Henry. Christie and Henry cooked an amazing dinner for all of us. We brought snacks and some sweets. Christie and Heather did some shots and really enjoyed themselves. It was a Wonderful way to ring in 2014.
During the second week of February, Heather and I drove to Ft. Collins, Colorado where we stayed with our friend Al. We had to go back to Colorado for my long overdue divorce hearing. Of course my daughters along with my ex were a no show. Nobody had heard nor seen them since August 2013. Because of all the lies told and games played throughout the divorce process the divorce took over two years to get finalized. Since my ex wife had removed the girls from the State of Colorado against court orders. The only thing Colorado would do to locate Emma and Danielle was to order a "Return Order for the Protection of the Children." Only problem was no states, including Colorado enforced the order. My divorce was finalized on Valentine's Day. After court, Heather and I decided we just wanted to get home so we headed out into Denver's crazy rush hour traffic. We wanted to have a non fast food meal for our Valentines Day dinner so we stopped and enjoyed a meal at Noodles & Company. We both enjoyed Beef Stroganoff sprinkled with Smolder from Bolder.
Within 5 days of us returning home from Colorado, Heather and I got a lead on my ex and my girls so we once again hit the road and traveled this time to Atlanta. They had in fact been hiding out there since they had vanished from Colorado 7 months prior. We took lots of photographs of the home. It was completely trashed with about a foot of debris in the home, along with dog feces, drugs, needles, and a dead puppy. It was so awful! Heather spent a while outside tossing her cookies from the sights and smells. We managed to recover some useful information and Heather found some photos of Emma and Danielle in all the trash that my ex left behind. I will treasure those images of my girls forever.
From there we used every resource we had including a private investigator that contacted Heather at work. He tracked my ex to a Roach Motel in a shady part of Atlanta. Then Heather and I tracked her to New Jersey through my ex's friends who said she was unstable and scary (they said she was mentally unstable and unbalanced.) She was using false names, paying in cash, and using fake identifications to hide "according to her friends." Even with all of this we were still able to find her. She realized we would never give up so she returned to Colorado and asked them to forgive her, and they did. We have since found out that Colorado knew I was living in Florida and they wanted the case out of the state since the governors office had already received dozens of complaints about the handling of the case. In addition, the Center for Missing Children and Social Services in Georgia, New Jersey, and Colorado were investigating her. The only goal for them was to shut the case down FAST!
So in the beginning of August, with only about 7 days notice, we once again drove to Colorado to face the custody portion of the divorce. It was the only unresolved portion of the divorce.
During the divorce, my ex accused me of everything she could imagine. Her accusations were taken seriously by the police. They investigated me, my close friends, my family, my medical history, my military record, my credit, EVERY PART of MY LIFE. They determined and ruled that each and every accusation was baseless. The judge decided that because my ex had created such a strong and unhealthy "Trauma Bond" with the girls over the last two years that they would freak out if they were given to Heather and I. My ex had been the only adult in the girls lives and she was given full custody of my daughters. There were many orders issued by the courts in regards to me regaining partial custody and my ex now refuses to respond or work on any court ordered stuff. I will continue to do what I can within the law as I unlike her follow court orders, rules, and the law.
Heather truly is and has been my rock throughout this heartbreaking mess.
Shortly after the divorce was finalized, I asked Heather to marry me. She said, "Yes!" Then on March 17th 2014 at 2:00pm with Heather's mom, her sister, our friends Sandy and Jon, we were finally married on the beach, in Cocoa Beach, Florida. It was a very meaningful ceremony ordained by Our Best Friend, Christie Willis. She made our vows and sand unity even more special and meaningful...we will treasure that day forever.
During the first few months on 2014 we had talked about the whole family moving back out to the Pacific Northwest. Candy and Heather had lived out there for several years and they just loved it. However, I did lots of research I found that the cost of living in all the areas we loved out west were all extremely expensive. So we looked for a rental in a quieter and cooler LOL part of Florida and we came across Hernando, FL. The costs over here were far less than Orlando's prices.
Next came the big debate for Candy, did she want to take an early retirement? We all talked it over and determined that she should retire. Now where to live? We researched places all over the world and decided that moving to Cuenca, Ecuador would be a great option and it would allow all of us to comfortably retire and live a happier and healthier life down there.
The next hurdle for us came in June and July when Candy and our family had to deal with multiple hospital stays and round the clock IV antibiotic and then surgery. She had gotten MRSA while working at a filthy Long Term Care Facility. This really solidified to Candy that she is making the right choice in retiring. She has said for years, that healthcare in the USA and the nursing industry are all going down hill. That many nurses are getting into nursing for the money and not to provide quality healthcare to patients.
On October 6th, our Big Furbaby Boy Nikita passed away peacefully in Heather's arms. She was able to wrap her arms around him and look into his eyes while he passed away. Candy and I surrounded Heather and NickNick during his passing. He had been a huge parts of the ladies lives and they took his passing really hard. Candy and Heather had gotten NickNick when they moved to Anchorage, Alaska in 2000. He was Heather's 29th Birthday present. Heather always says he was her, "Best Ever Alaskan Souvenir. He was 14.5 year old when he passed away. We still have his sister Sasha (they shared the same parents, there mom raced in 3 Alaskan Iditarod Races.) In addition, we have our Little Cutie Pie "Zoey Bear." I did take his passing very hard, I was so sad when he passed away, he was such a good dog. I'm just glad I got to meet and fall in love with him. That was and forever will be a fuzzy highlight to my life. He was full of love and affection every day. Papa was the best dog I have ever known. He is missed by all of us. <3
I had some medical challenges this year including minor foot surgery. And I also had Gastric Sleeve Weight Loss Surgery on November 20th. It was a difficult recovery from surgery. However, the pre-op and post-op diet is just plain awful. I am having to relearn all eating habits. My eyes and head do not agree with what my stomach wants. I've learned that in that battle, my stomach wins. As of this message, I have lost over 60 pounds and I've already dropped 6 sizes. Heather has also been focusing on losing weight. Her process is an even tougher task then mine. So far, she has manage to fight the weight battle without having surgery. She is having success, so far, she has dropped 57lbs since she started to try to loss weight when she and Candy moved back to Florida in 2013!!! Candy is planning to focus on her weight starting on January 1st. I believe it will be easier for all of us once we are all on the same page. The holidays are always a difficult time to try to BE GOOD!
Christmas was Great (see Heather's Christmas post)! And we are getting close to having everything ready for the big move to Ecuador. Our Visa's are being worked on and we are hoping to be in Cuenca, Ecuador in early-April.
The next exciting event for us is Heather and I are finally going on a Mini-Honeymoon Cruise (more details after the cruise.)
We want to thank you for taking the time to read about our year. We also hope everyone of you has an amazing and fun 2015.
Be Safe, Everyone and Happy New Year's 2015!!!
*** Please post comments, below...Thanks, Dan ***
I wish only good things for the three of you! You are indeed three of my very favorite people. Love you guys!
ReplyDeleteChristie