Introducing Ashley Taylor Blankenship

For our close friends and family, this day has been coming for a VERY long time, and has been earned through many tears, heartache and emotional pain that is difficult to describe - by me, my dear husband, our extended families, and most of all - our sweet ASHLEY!

13 years after Ashley's biological father and I divorced, and after a relationship with him that progressively deteriorated for Ashley over those many years, she finally TODAY was given her freedom from that relationship that caused so much hurt and torment. Due to some very sad circumstances, Ashley's biological father, voluntarily terminated his parental rights - and today, that termination was made official for Ashley, including the privilege of changing her last name to Blankenship. We are now in the process of finalizing Steve's adoption of Ashley, but just as she has been for these MANY years . . . she is truly a Blankenship!

Words can not describe the feeling of relief and sadness, joy and anticipation as the judge read the Termination aloud in the court hearing this morning. This situation has been the singularly most impacting circumstance in our family's life over these past 13 years. As a mother, I had all the hope in the world that things would be different, and have cried tears of deep sadness over watching my little girl hurt as she has grown up. But through it all, the Lord God Almighty has been there for all of us. He has given us the strength to endure, wisdom to handle difficult circumstances and has placed the most perfect people in our lives (especially Ashley's DAD, my sweet husband Steve).

Through everything, and despite some serious difficulties through the years, our dear daughter has turned into an amazing young lady! She is beautiful -inside and out, thoughtful, loving, fun, independent, empathetic, determined, hilarious, and most importantly and girl deeply devoted to her God! As there were times to question whether God had "left" her, Ashley developed a deep and abiding faith - one that is real and tested and means everything to her!

We are very proud of our daughter and are so grateful to God, our family and our friends for their love, support and compassion through the years!

THANK YOU, The Blankenship Family