Finally allowed to come home

A few weeks after our face-to-face meeting with DSS in September of 2007, we received a call from our DSS worker.  She has something to tell us, but wanted to tell us in person.  She asked for both of us to be there.  After all that we had been through, we expected the worst.  What she told us was truely the most wonderful thing I had heard since all of this happened:  She told me I could come home and that our DSS case was being closed.

It would seem our face-to-face meeting made a difference.  I’m pretty sure that by them seeing and talking to me made the difference.  I was no longer just a name on a sheet of paper, but a real human being.  I think they saw me for who I really was: A Dad that was lost without his family.  She left shortly after telling us, and my wife immediately went to the schools to get my kids.  Finally being able to stay home with my family was one of the happiest moments in my life.  People say you never truly know what you have until it’s taken away from you and that is such a true statement.

This was a huge step forward for us, and while we knew we had a long way to go and still faced the legal charges, at least DSS was out of the picture.  Being home allowed us all to return to a level of normality we hadn’t had in over a year.

I slept better that night than I had in a very long time.  Being able to sleep in my bed, with my wife, in my house was truely an answer to prayer.