As 2014 comes to an end, I feel that I should count my blessings with my children. I know that I started to blog about my children's disabilities and it sounds so sad at points, but looking back on the year, I see that my children have grown. Although the stress for my daughter in starting college has been monumental, I did expect issues, maybe not to this extent but I was not totally surprised. I find that with each day the light shines brighter! My daughter has been home for 2 weeks now and the family influence really does calm her down. She does miss school but her confidence and self esteem exudes at home. We can talk to her about her final goals for the second semester. To our surprise she rebounded well on her grades on the first semester and she is encouraged by this. We are hoping that she even progresses more, but as we are all aware this is a process. As far as my younger son, he is now 13 years old, he has been enrolled in his art school for the winter-spring semester and is enrolled in a social program at at a local center. My husband and I are totally encouraged by this. He is doing well at his school and with the increased medications he is on, he really is thriving. New steps, new issues and new developments are bound to happen and we just have to roll with the punches! I am encouraged for 2015. The New Year will bring a new part of me that will unravel, the "letting go" process. Now that my daughter is 18 years old, this will be a difficult process and I am aware of it. We all want our children to thrive and succeed, but now it's her turn to take the reigns. We'll see how this goes during the year. I am hoping for good things in 2015... see you then!~