Letter to my Father in Law

*Before I begin, a little bit of background story on my FIL~ he has been in jail since 2008. A former alcoholic, he would black out and be violent. Well he took the last episode a little too far and was finally put in jail, forced to become sober and has been for 3 years. He wrote us a letter, asking us to get in touch with him if we want to and the following is what I would want to say to him.*

Dear Dave,

It sure has been awhile since we have heard from you. To be honest I was quite worried about your wellbeing with you being in jail and all. But I am glad to hear you are doing okay. 3 years sober is quite the accomplishment...you can't imagine how proud of you I am. I know Anthony is too but I am not sure if he is ready to acknowledge it yet. He has been hurt pretty badly in his life and understandably there is a lot more than mere words that is needed to prove to him that things are different. Not sure if he will come around or not, maybe not now but down the line perhaps he will. Time definitely heals all wounds just the amount of time is not always certain. 

A lot has gone on since you last were in touch with us. Anthony and I have become parents to a beautiful little girl. We named her Willow Abigail Marie Dutchak. She was born on October 18,2010 and she is currently 14 months old. Anthony is absolutely smitten with her and he is the best father this little girl could ever ask for. He took 9 months of parental leave to take care of his daughter. He cried when she was born. Our marriage is so strong now and we have overcome so much in the short year and a bit of our child's life it's absolutely amazing. I can only accredit it all to the grace of God, who has really blessed our family.

Right now I am currently in school for medical office assistant. I am hoping to get into transcription for doctors, and within five years be a stay at home mom with my children. Yes, I want another baby in the future. Anthony is unsure, but I believe he will be fine within a couple of years to have another child. Anthony has aspirations to go to school within the next 3 years or so, once I am done and established in a job and he will be able to go down to part time at work and do his studies.

We don't currently have a landline to accept phone calls from. So writing will probably be the best way to communicate with you. At least for the time being. I hope you are well and hope to hear from you soon.

Love,

Brittany