Hi, I am going down momof4illinois friends list and asking everyone if they have heard anything from her. There is a concern if she is okay or not. If you have heard from her or about her, can you let others know. People on d360 are very concern. Thanks, chris

Thank you for asking about my son. He's doing better. He is in pain but he's resting and is finally sleeping well.

I actually try to give encouraging words whenever I can because there is so much pain and heartache here that a few encouraging words can make all the difference in the world. I can only imagine the heartache you are going through. I remember telling my own mother that I wanted to live with my father (different circumstances in my case, but I did mean it at one time - even ran away to my dad's place once) and even though I didn't, things got bad enough that she was looking into sending me to one of those 'boot camp' type places for troubled kids (though I wasn't really as bad as that to go there - I was denied because I wasn't 'bad enough'). She didn't want to do that but as I got older, I saw the pain she went through and I could see that by letting me go, she was being a strong woman. I've seen her be strong, even with the pain she put me through with abuse and such, and it's one quality about her that I admire. She is a strong woman and so are you. Your son will find his way back to you and see how strong you are - maybe this was his way of begging you to be strong, not just for him, but for YOU - and take comfort in the fact that if he doesn't want to live with you and your stbx, there is a great chance that he will not treat his girlfriends/wife the way your stbx treats you. It's a double edged sword, but now it's up to you to take that sword and fight like hell to show him just how strong of a woman you really are, and he will look back and be in awe of you...along with the great pride that only a son can have for his mother. Take care of yourself and things will fall into place, including having your son back in your life. =)