Child Visitation

Sunday, April 13th, 2008 -

After a dozen years of child visitation, I saw what was once my car approach the house. Something rectified inside me the moment I saw the car park curbside but I could not articulate the feeling at first. I watched what was once a child emerge from the driver's side. My oldest daughter had come to pay a visit.

It marked the first time one of my kids actually visited me on their own recognizance. She carried a smile and a birthday present for me. The fact that she still had Christmas presents to open from 2007 told a story in and of itself but that mattered little with her in the house again. She talked about her upcoming high school senior trip and the prospects of college. Her future sounded brighter than the bridge ahead of me. For a divorced non-custodial parent, I knew that court ordered child visitation was no more with her. There was no child before me. While I will maintain an open door policy, visits with this adult are now strictly at her discretion.