HELLO, GOODBYE

She's gone. The nest is empty. The youngest bird has flown the coop. Now, only old people reside under the roof of the house on Hybiscus.

Ashley drove away this morning to Lincoln City, Oregon, where she will begin her new job as a kindergarten teacher.

Ashley was eleven years old when we met. She had accompanied her mother to the cancer center where I work and where her mom was receiving radiation treatments. I had a strong suspicion early on during her mother's treatments that someday Ashley would be calling me "Dad".

Ashley carved a pumpkin at my house about a week after I got her approval to ask her mom to marry me.

Part of being a dad was to modify a bicycle so it could be ridden with one hand.

Ashley was a twelve-year-old maid of honor at our wedding.

Part of being a dad was to teach Ashley how to drive and then to take a picture of her proudly displaying her new drivers license.

Ashley graduates from high school.

Ashley graduates from college.

Ashley moves away. This morning.