Gary V. Powell, Author

I owe my daughter Ashley a call. On Saturday night, I was reading Mary a new short story I recently completed. It's a pretty good story about how you can never go home--an old theme I know, but one that each of us must explore in our own way--when the phone rang. We let it go to voicemail and the message from Ashley was that she wanted me to look outside and see the large yellow moon just rising--there was no need to call back, she said.

Now, of course, she's in Omaha and I'm here in North Carolina, so our moon was already high and bright and Ashley didn't consider that, but I'd like to think that her message represents a turning point in her life. I hope she was calling to ask me to enjoy the moon, because so many times in her short life I've tried to encourage her to enjoy simple things--a sunrise, a sunset, a walk in the park on a pristine spring morning, a good meal, or an evening spent in the company of family--and she wanted to return the favor. I hope she was calling to say "Dad, I get it. I don't have to be the prettiest, funniest girl around, I don't have to be at the biggest party, run with the wildest crowd, or down the most drugs. No, I get it, I can be happy enjoying a simple moonrise."

I hope that.

I also hope that, perhaps even more importantly, she was calling to say, in a way she could never say directly, that, "Dad, I know you appreciate things like a yellow moon rising on a bleak winter's day and I want to share this with you and I want to make sure you don't miss it." I hope she's developing a sense of empathy that transcends her usual self-absorption.

I hope that.

What I know is this. Ashley's made it through three weeks without a major crisis that I'm aware of. She's completed her intensive rehab and she's taking an art class at a local community college. I also know that Ashley has enrolled in a beauty school in Omaha starting in May and that while completion of it will be a challenge for her, it could also give her a skill that allows her to make a living.

I hope she takes advantage of this opportunity.

She's returning to North Carolina at the end of this month for a meeting with her probation officer and a DWI hearing. We'll be in Chicago, for my father-in-law's 70th birthday, so we won't see her but maybe that's for the best.

I hope she can resolve her legal problems and begin to get on with her life.

Outside, the sky is brightening and the cold, white moon is setting in the west.

To read more about Ashley and our challenges with her ADHD and ODD, visit the following entries:  Perils of Nurse Ratchit, I Rolled a 130, Dad, Thanksgiving, The Family Counts, A Confluence of Crap, Hard Lessons, Probation, In the Company of Felons, Life at the Speed of Light, Reconciliation and Anguish. Goodbye Ashley, Fly Away, Six Bucks, Ashley's Run, Graduation, Grounded by the Family, and In Defiance in the Family Archive).