We said our goodbyes, and we were on to bigger and better things, or so we thought. Looking back, we headed into the lions' den, and we didn't know it. There would be good things and bad things about this move, and we would discover them soon enough.

We got to our new home, and I set out to get the family in order. The first order of business was to get us moved in. We managed that okay, after I got over my flu. We got the kids registered in school, and all seemed to be going well. Our oldest daughter was in the second half of the fifth grade, a difficult time to move, but she seemed to adjust well. We wouldn't know until much later that it was a really difficult time for her, and it would continue to be difficult until we left. We had moved her from a secure situation into a competitive situation for which she was not prepared to enter. We will forever regret putting her into a situation that made her feel inferior. The people around her, especially at church (imagine that), would put her self-confidence to a test. We put her into a social situation with people who were so self-absorbed and so arrogant, and we will regret that forever. I hate that she had to be around the so-called "upper class" who made it their mission to make her feel like she was inferior. She was never inferior; in fact, she was superior to them. She managed to rise above these snooty girls, and she made something of herself. I hate that she had to go through the hate that she had to endure. I can't stand that she had to withstand ridicule and belittling. I am so proud of her and the accomplishments that she has made. She is a productive citizen, and we are so proud of her. I just can't stand that her self-esteem was damaged by these girls (in our church, no less), but she has gotten past it, and she is a bigger person for it.

Moving with Chase was a good move. We knew the teacher she would have (we bought our house to have her in this school), and we were excited at the new possibilities that we would face. We would soon make life-long friends with the teacher as well as the speech pathologist who would serve her for the next several years. These women would help to renew our hope and our confidence in the system that would serve Chase. We settled in and spent the next several years reveling in the comfort of being in a situation in which we did not feel threatened.