Online Crossword Puzzles

Now, he was at rock bottom.

The only ray of light in the pit of Christopher's life was his daughter, Kristy. She was seven-years-old, bright, warm, and the absolute apple of his eye. She was the reason he did nothing drastic when word came down from the top brass that he was being "let go". Her round face and full cheeks, framed with curly brown hair like her mother's, was in the forefront of his mind as he digested the news and watched his life crumble. The apartment, shabby though it was, had been chosen because it was close to where his daughter and ex-wife lived; just across the state line in Stanford, Connecticut. He was able to pick her up on weekends, as agreed, and was available whenever she needed him. Even at a moment's notice.

Here, too, was a place he had never dreamed of being. Never in his wildest dreams had Christopher pictured himself as a weekend father; the very thing he had hoped to avoid, because he, too, grew up in a broken family. His father walked out on them when he was only ten years old, leaving him to be "the man of the house," and the young boy learned first hand how such a tragedy could tear away a child's self-esteem. It hurt, left deep and far- reaching scars as he grew to manhood, and he did not want his daughter to experience even one second like it. He had vowed to be a different kind of father; in reality, he had fallen short of the promise.