My son (on the center right) doing what typical 20-something hipsters do in our town. There are coffee shops on every corner (we literally have 2 Starbucks less than a block apart). I'm happy...he's doing well.

Congratulations all around on the success that your son has made of a very difficult time. I am so glad that he has been able to stay strong and that your family has been such an integral part of his return to life and school. Good Luck to him. c

Glad to hear the update and that your son is doing well.

Glad to see that things are going so well. I remember reading about your story and it was heartbreaking.

Now, I'm confused. You mentioned DH and that reminded me, maybe I'm mistaken but weren't you leaving him a few months back? Or am I confusing you with someone else? I don't mean to pry, but you shared it with us and I don't remember seeing any "update" on that (not that you owe it to us!!). Just curious, and you can ignore me if you want to.

Pesky, there are so many different ways this could have played out, I'm so glad your son is adjusting well and is falling back into a normal life again. As a mother I can totally relate to the varied emotions you must be feeling, pride, joy, relief just to name a few.

In a time when things are very challenging for me and mine, it's so nice to see the happy ending to a sad and difficult story (different but difficult and sad all the same). Thanks for the update.

Sueb, I was thinking about this as well. Pesky, here's hoping that your problems with DH were resolved.
It's interesting that when we share our deepest feelings, and then we accept things and move on, the people you share these insights with sometimes don't move on. In our case though ,we didn't get "the rest of the story."

Pesky did post "the rest of the story" way back when. It is easy to miss things.

I am very happy for your strong son, and your family, too, Pesky. Thanks for the pic and update.

That is wonderful news!

Pesky, I surf through here all the time but rarely post. This brought me out of the woodwork to comment. :)

From where I sit and from what I can tell, the way your son was treated was so far beyond reasonable that it boggles my mind.

I'm glad he is out, and choosing to move forward in a positive way. Life is what we make of it. In some small ways, he may well turn out to be a better person because of all of this. I'm not talking about there being a silver lining to this - that would be crap. :) But sometimes life has a way of giving us important lessons, even when the lesson learned is out of proportion to the "crime" (and I do use that term loosely here) committed.

Some of the best things I've learned in life have come at my darkest hours, you know? Sometimes people have a tendency to become bitter and embattled with each bad thing, and I am convinced that is the script for an unhappy life.

Anyway, I just wanted to say this lurker is so happy for you and your son. May he live well and enjoy his life from here!! :)

I'm so very happy for all of you. Here's to nothing but sunny days for a good long while.....

Thanks everyone. Yes, he's happy and adjusting so well.

As to my story...my husband and I are working on things day by day. We've come to an understanding of where our priorities lie and we've mutually agreed to not stand in each other's way, but to try to support one another in our choices. For the time being we're committed to our marriage, but we both understand that we need to do a lot of work on it also. Mostly we're on a path of self-improvement and I think that we realize if it takes us on two different paths, we can accept that. There is love there, but I know I'm being a bit more selfish for the first time in my life and putting ME first...and I like it. I can't change him, and I'm not willing to sacrifice my happiness and fulfillment; while he seems to be accepting of my need for wings, he's got a greater need for a nest. At least there is no resentment, and I think that is helping us move forward with where ever our marriage will go.

Thanks pesky, as someone who follwed your story, I am glad to see you have a plan of action.
All the best to you :)

Pesky, every time I think of your son's story, I shake my head in disbelief.

I am so glad for this update. Please let your son know that we continue to be behind him and thank him for being a source of inspiration. And yes, sunny days ahead!

Awesome he's doing so well, wonderful, wonderful update.

So glad this is in your past and he's doing well !!

Today he met with his parole officer and was told that he's doing such a good job that he no longer has to report in, and he should be released completely in 6 months. What a relief that will be!

LOL about doing a "good job." He was ALWAYS doing a good job-- did they think incarceration would scare him straight? The only thing that would have messed him up was jail itself, and somehow he got through that with flying colors.

You raised a strong son! Glad he will be totally free soon!

Pesky, I'm sorry to bother you when you have so much on your plate but I've tried to do a search for an original post about your son and had no luck. Was this a tagging incident? I see a reference to paint cans. He looks like such a great kid! I can't believe who they let walk the streets and who they waste taxpayers money on incarcerating. No logic to it at all.

I'm so happy for you that he is out and doing so well!

Yes Francy, it was for tagging- but not with paint, with stickers. USPS mailing lable stickers. So we had a laugh over the paint restriction. We joked that he should have been banned from entering a postoffice and that handling postage stamps should be considered contraband.

OMG...unbelievable.

My eldest DD is working with the District Attorney's office and had a recent encounter in court with the judge who'd sentenced my son. Apparently judge has got a reputation as being difficult and tends to be more lenient toward women than men. She's kicked people out of her courtroom because she didn't feel they were properly attired (even victims assistant advocates!) or behaving the way she felt they should. DD said that some of the victims her office represents have filed official complaints against this judge.

So, we figured that my son had 2 strikes against him right up front...he went to court that day wearing skinny jeans (as he has done for years), sneakers and a clean T-shirt with an overshirt. Said judge does not like that look apparently. Had he worn a suit & tie I'm sure she wouldn't have been so harsh.

Well, we're still going to work on that appeal and use that judges complaints in the request for expungement.