There isn't much to tell you of Mike that I haven't already told you. Before the divorce, he was the best dad. Always there, gently guiding you in the right direction. I don't think I ever remember he and my mom fighting before the divorce. Maybe they locked themselves in the bedroom, who knows. I just don't remember ever hearing it. He used to be the silly dad, always talking in cartoon voices to me and my friends. (He still does that by the way) The generous provider. I can't remember ever wanting for anything. The spiritual guider, taking us to church and getting us involved.

The fun dad, taking us camping where we could burp loudly and trail blaze with a tractor. When my mom and Mike first were seperated, I actually wanted to go with him. My mom refused to let me go. Saying, "You aren't taking MY daughter." Of course, at that point, I didn't know he wasn't my dad yet, and I didn't understand. Wasn't I just as much his daughter as hers? But I loved my mom, and I stayed.

After that, Mike and I got more and more distant. When I did find out about Ron, it seemed to hurt our relationship even more.

I admit to being an ungrateful wretch. I loved him and hated him at the same time. I'm sure part of the reason Mike didn't have much to with me after the divorce was that he didn't want to deal with my mom. I'm sure part of it was also maybe because he thought I had my real dad now. And, I'm sure part of it had to do with the fact that he had a new family now. (He marrried Suzanne almost as soon as the divorce was final. She had 3 kids as well.)

For all of these reasons that I feel, he didn't talk to me. I also ignored him, although I needed him very much. A teenage girl needs her dad. I was lost. The boyfriends in my mom's life weren't him. They couldn't possibly suffice.

As you know I spent a few years living with Ron, and I came to love him greatly. Ron is still a major part of my life...

Back to Mike...as I said, he and I didn't really talk. When I graduated high school, it was a very big deal to me. I wanted Mike there. No matter if I had a string of dads (and it so happens I do) Mike raised me untill the age of 13. When the term "daddy's little girl" came to mind, I thought of Mike. When he (or any of the Morris family for that matter) didn't acknowledge my graduation, I was crushed. I wanted him there, or at least to call. But, for whatever reasons, he didn't.

At the age of 19 (in fact my 19th birthday), Shari drug me down to Houston to see the Morris family. Except for Shari and my cousin Paul, I wasn't really acknowledged. I confronted Mike about not being there for me for those years. He told me that he and his best friend hadn't spoken in 10 years, but that didn't change their relationship. I tried to explain to him that there is a HUGE difference from two grown men not speaking for several years, and a dad not speaking to his daughter for five years. Especially because between the ages of 13 and 20 a girl needs her dad the most. He didn't understand.

We did begin to talk a little more after that. Travis went with me to visit Shari and Mike a year later. Mike approved of Travis quickly, and I think that brought Mike and I a little closer together.

Finally, in the past year or so, Mike and I have been talkin more and more. I'm so glad that our once shattered relationship is starting to mend.