Part I: 

I got a call at work at 3:50 PM, ten minutes before I was to leave for the day. The call was from home. I answered with a worried "Hello," because calls from home are usually problems.

It wasn't.

It was my seven-year-old daughter. She was calling to tell me she received a great honor at school today. She was "spotted" by a teacher at lunch throwing away some garbage that was not her own. The school gave her a "recognition award" for her kindness, and she's going to have her name proudly displayed on the front board of the school and included in the monthly newsletter. 

There are so many kids in her school doing good deeds every day and she was spotted doing one. She was SO happy and SO proud. 

I was beaming.

Part II:

She was calling me at 3:50 because she was on her way to therapy. She'd wanted to tell me about her exciting day as I wasn't going to see her until 7 PM. She's been in therapy for twenty months - it's been a long road.

On the way to therapy, she told my husband that she was ready to stop therapy. She's said this before and always changes her mind after her session. She'll come out after her session and she and her therapist will announce that she'll have one more session and then stop because SHE IS HEALED.

She's been healing from trauma. She's now feeling strong, like she's overcome the trauma. She isn't replaying it, she isn't dwelling on it.

She thinks about her "friend" from time-to-time but not what he did to her. 

She cried from happiness - my little girl was so happy she cried. And that makes me cry with happiness. While I know we may have a rough road ahead of us; that the effects of this trauma may creep up again, right now, my daughter feels healed. She feels whole again.

And that is HAPPINESS for all of us.