He picked Adrian up and drove him to the shoe store that he goes to. They sat him down and measured his feet, and put the shoes on him — I'm sure Adrian felt like a prince!

Adrian came home with a sixty dollar pair of "real" shoes that will last him for two months — tops. But even though it was probably totally impractical, it still made me very happy.

My uncle is a wonderful man. He's always been the fill-in dad for me, and more and more I see him taking on that role for Adrian. He loves babysitting, even though he'll pretend he doesn't. He's constantly buying him toys, food, diapers — never accepting any thanks or offers for repayment.

Adrian loves, loves, loves him to death — the two of them have so many private games, it's hysterical. If Adrian were aware enough to know what a father is, I'm sure he'd think that Uncle Don was his.

I wrote a few weeks ago about healing, and time offering a new perspective and more recently about families being what you make them. I feel that time has offered me the chance to heal — I've been offered that new perspective on my life and I've realized that Adrian will be fine without his biological father. He is surrounded by people that love him —WE are surrounded by people that love US — and that is all that counts.

What a difference a few months can make.