Day 116 - In Hospitals 2014 - Marion, The Answer is "No".

This is my beautiful daughter Marion and I love her with all my heart.

This past year I've had to hyperfocus on Marion's sister India because of India's physical condition. This has meant that I've not been able to spend as much one-on-one time with Marion as both of us would have liked. But I've tried to fill the gap with healthy and productive activities. 

I've managed to get Marion up to Colorado 6 times with friends and family. She's gone to Park City Utah for a ski-holiday with her best friend during the Christmas break. And there has been much more.

Unfortunately, there have been a few opportunities that overlapped into custody timeframes that I have no say in and as a result these opportunities were blocked. 

One of these opportunities was earlier this year when I tried to fly Marion to Boston to spend time with both myself and her sister India. India wasn't doing well and had been in the hospital for a very long time. A visit from Marion would have been an incredible morale booster for everybody. A good friend knew that I was trying to get Marion to Boston and offered to pay for her plane ticket. But because of timeframes, a portion of Marion's Boston trip would have to have been during a custody period that wasn't mine and I had no say in. When I reached out for permission, the response was a "no" because of school. When I offered to contact each teacher and get all assignments so no schoolwork would be incomplete, the answer was still a "no".

The other major opportunity for Marion was presented not long ago. Marion was invited to accompany her best friend to Europe for 2 weeks. They were to go to Finland and Germany. Marion was really excited when she heard the news and I was really happy for her. Not many kids get to fly from New Mexico to Europe with their best friend for an all expense paid summer holiday. As with the Boston trip, this holiday would overlap into a custody period that wasn't mine so I'd have to get permission. After multiple attempts to get an answer, I received an email with one word, "no". There was no explanation, no rationale, nothing but a "no".

Needless to say, my heart breaks for Marion.