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off on a journey
It’s very late and I’m exhausted, but I want to get this typed up and posted while most of the details are fresh on my mind.
In May, Mike, Ashley and Attison moved up to Minnesota. The shop Mike had been working for in Texas ran into some financial problems, and even after trying for a while Mike wasn’t able to find a new job in Texas. So they packed up and moved to Minnesota, hoping that Mike would be able to do a national job search while they stayed with his parents for a little while.
Every year there’s a large group of people who get together for a week, usually in a national forest or someplace where tens of thousands of people can gather. They camp out, share what they have to share (supplies and such), and basically just hang out in an expression of a lifestyle that isn’t the usual mainstream lifestyle. Mike and Ashley decided they wanted to attend “The Gathering” in New Mexico in July, camp for maybe a week, then head back to Minnesota.
By the end of the week, they had pretty much split up. Ashley decided she wanted to continue on with a group of people she met at The Gathering, but Mike felt that that would not be best for Attison. So Mike talked Ashley into letting him take Attison, while Ashley went with her new friends on a journey around the country for a week or two, maybe more.
When Roger and I heard that Ashley had taken Attison to this gathering, we knew we were going to have to step in ~ I had told Ashley previously that I did not feel that would be an appropriate atmosphere for Attison, especially since she’s only 13 months old. We learned that Mike had decided to leave the camp and take Attison to where she could be safe ~ I called him and asked him to bring Attison here to Arkansas so we could see her.
Once he and Atti arrived safely in Arkansas, we learned a little more about the gathering, and we knew Mike had made the right decision by removing Attison from that situation. We all wished Ashley would have come out of there with Mike too, but since Ashley’s an adult she makes her own decisions.
Earlier this evening Mike and Ashley had a telephone conversation where Ashley stated that she would not be coming back ~ she likes living the hippy lifestyle, she’s happy there, and right now she has no plans to return to regular society. She told Mike she didn’t think she would ever be coming back.
To me, that says that Ashley has abandoned Attison. Ashley knows Atti is here with us, that she is being well taken care of, and that she’s loved very much. Atti is safe. So Ashley is now free to live what conventional people would refer to as a hippy lifestyle ~ just sort of aimlessley wandering around the country, hitchhiking, catching rides with other “travelers” and maybe working odd jobs here and there to earn some money for food. It’s what Ashley has always wanted to do, and now she has found a way to do it. I wish her well, I hope she is happy, and I pray that someday she’ll realize what a mistake she has made by abandoning Attison.
So, Roger and I are once again raising Attison. This time for good. Our guardianship is still in effect ~ it’s a permanent, lifetime guardianship that will hold up in any state and court in the land.
Attison will be able to lead a normal, healthy life. She’ll be loved, and while Roger and I will always be Papa and Nana, Attison will grow up with us loving her with the love of a mother and father ~ not to mention Uncles Patrick and Sawyer, Auntie Ariel, Aunties Janice, Christina, Hannah, Sarah, Amanda, Uncle Bruce, and all of the amazing ladies and kids at our homeschool co-op. Attison has a life here with us, and she is immensely loved. And I’m so thankful that not only has God brought her back to us, but that He has been providing for her in incredible and unexpected ways.
So welcome home, Attison. We love you, and we’re so excited (and thankful) to spend your growing-up years with you!
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Oh sweet Trish,
Wow. I don’t even know what to say other than I love you, I’m praising God with you for his plans and purposes that NEVER FAIL, that I’m praying for you and Atti and Roger and Ashley and your whole sweet family.
Know you are loved and lifted before God who will meet ALL your needs!
Praying,
Joanne
Joanne @ The Simple Wife’s last blog post..Here’s a peek at our new home
Trish,
I am so sorry to hear of this struggle. It is so hard when our children make decisions that are contrary to what we see as being the right ones. I ache for little Atti and not having her mother there to love her, nurture her, and I ache for the blessing that Ashley is missing out on. I am so very thankful though that the Lord brought Ashley back to you when he did so that little Atti would have a stable home to grow up in. God and his providence is always amazing!
Kristine
MamaArcher’s last blog post..Requirements Fullfilled
Trish…I read this the day you posted it but am just now coming back to comment. I’m so sorry. So very sorry. And I’m praying for you. I’m so thankful that you have Attison now…
Thank you, sweet friends. In so many ways this past week has been quite an adventure. We feel very blessed to have Attison here; she’s such a happy, easy baby, and she does some of the funniest things.
Ashley has been communicating with Mike, and we’re still hoping she’ll make her way back to Minnesota.
Thank you for your prayers ~ please continue to pray for all of us. God has been amazing this week, especially amid all of the turmoil.
Trish, just reading this and I’m so very sad for Ashley…and so thankful that God already worked to have you in place when Atti most needed you. I’ll be praying for you as you raise this precious child.