October 9, 2009 (I’ve decided to start dating my posts.)

Sophia got a car. She had been saving her babysitting and birthday money for months, but she didn’t need to use any of it because her father bought the car for her. He told her she could keep her money to pay for gas and other expenses. She was thrilled. She drove herself to school the other day for the first time and stopped on the way home to get a burrito. What independence. She is enjoying her new found freedom, but not without a little bit of guilt and compassion for her step brother Mark, who is about to turn 16 and does not have enough money saved to buy a car. This leads us to the many common issues and problems in a blended family— fairness and equality. Paul and I, due to the difficult economy, are not in a position to help Mark buy a car and neither is Susie, Mark’s mother. When Sophia realized this she felt bad for her step brother and offered to help him get a car with the money she had saved that she did not need to use to buy her car. What an amazing, generous, thoughtful gesture on her part. We have a third car Mark can use until we can get the money together to help him get a car. In the mean time, it was so nice for Mark to know that his sister was looking out for him.