If I Could Turn Back Time...

In about 15 hours my daughter and I, with the support of family and friends, will be returning to our past. We will be sitting in a room similar to a court room, awaiting the man who hurt my daughter, to walk thru the door in shackles. We will listen to a hearing officer read to us all what my daughter relives all to often. We will hear this man speak, pleading his case to try to be released from prison after 9 years. My daughter has prepared a short statement to read, begging the officers of the parole board to keep him behind bars.
So many emotions for both my daughter and I. Last we saw him was 6 years ago at his first parole hearing... honestly terrifying. I can't imagine what my daughter was experiencing at that time. But she is older now, we have both done so much growing and facing our demons. We will be victorious tomorrow! No matter what the decision is, we will walk in there with our heads held high and face this head on.
I, personally, still have some things to work thru on my own before I am ready to go face to face with this man and get my closure... but I do plan to do so one day.
So to give my daughter a little extra support, we decided that we needed to get our mother daughter tattoos before this day arrives. And it needed to have meaning.

So let me back up a number of years... when she was young, she loved Cher. We both did. We would sing to every Cher song together on the radio, or when the cd was playing, she knew them all when she was 7! My favorite was always Turn Back Time. One day when she was 8, we were on vacation~ heading to southern Utah for a week of camping with my then fiance, Alan. I popped in the Cher cd and she started singing and dancing and being the silly kid she always was, While that song was on Alan was watching her and just laughing almost to tears. I turned to see what she was doing... next thing I knew we were off the road, blood and broken glass everywhere. Alan had a couple pretty nasty cuts, I messed up my leg and face, Kayla was fine!
Fast forward a couple more years... When all this nightmare was going on. I heard this song and just bawled! Every line was just everything I wanted to say to my daughter, the entire song just grabbed my heart and has been that song to my daughter ever since.
Saturday we went to see out tattoo guy, and he had drawn up exactly what we needed, a couple hours later we walked out very happy.
It's always nice to leave the past in the past, but some things will never allow us to leave them, so we make the best of what we have now, and we find strength in what was. This will always be with us, Kayla will never forget her past.
So in about three weeks we should know the outcome of tomorrow, so it really isn't over tomorrow. But the hard part will be.
Love and light to you all!