Kaitlin

Seems like I am stuck in a "people I love" phase here for a few letters. Kaitlin is my first born child. I'm not really sure why we picked out that name in particular, but I have always loved it. Kaitlin = Pure (um ... not so sure about that business).

Katie has been a headstrong girl from the moment she graced us with her presence on this planet. When her younger sister came along, she made sure right from the get go that Alissa knew who was in charge in this family. She was only four years old when her Dad left us to do his own thing and she was absolutely crushed. We moved on, but Katie always held out for that one chance that her Dad and I would get back together if we gave it just one more chance.

Obviously, that was never going to happen and she spent the next ten or so years letting Warren (my current husband) know that he was never going to be her Dad. I could write a novel on the trials and tribulations of those two but we'll just let that go. Katie spent every other year living with first me then her dad and let her choose where she would graduate from. She chose Vestaburg. So with a class of approximately 50 kids, she graduated in 2006.

Katie married her childhood sweetheart in 2009 after being with him for almost six years. Unfortunately, youth and lack of commitment on both sides led to divorce in 2010. She moved closer to me to live city life in the fast lane. She dated a couple of what I call "losers" and decided that she loved the last one and became pregnant. I was not thrilled with this and I did not support it, but it was going to happen no matter what I chose to think.

Katie's best accomplishment to date was bringing Liliana into this world on March 7th of this year and finally deciding in the last few weeks that it is time for her to get her life on track. The loser is gone, Lily is beautiful, and Katie is moving back to her old stomping grounds to try to raise Lily in a more stable environment than where she is now.

I will miss both of them terribly when they are not just a hop, skip and a jump away, but I know that for both of their safety and security ... it's for the best. I just want to say that I am very proud of the young woman that Katie has become and I love her with all of my heart.