Happily ever after

It was a time in a big city I remember loving the lights and the big buildings. The bank of America stayed lit in the neon green as the reunion ball had a blanket of lights that would transition.

Dallas is very urban not like the other small country cities in Texas. But I was homeless I never really enjoyed the light of things in the city behind all the buildings was a darkness that hid.

You see the beautiful skyline and may enjoy the expense of the city if you can afford it but there are thousands of unfortunate veterans of this city and children living on sidewalks at night with their family. I came from a broken home in and out foster homes in the city and I turned to the streets after not wanting to move from place to place and I hit them hard. Dallas provided a very good transit system at low cost so my life consisted of depending on it and I enjoyed my journey traveling around. The Dallas metroplex is huge and there are several nice places to visit including the Texas state fair, and the JFK memorial. I also remember going to the DFW stock yards and the rodeos were interesting considering I didn't come from that type of background. I loved the flowers if I could say anything about Dallas or Texas in general our azalea is beautiful state wide.

I took pictures with my family on the side of highways in Dallas in a sea of blue bonnets the color of this flower is just unlike any other it reflects on my life and several blue times I had in Dallas; all of my love that didn't last those relationships were spent in Dallas, until one day I met the girl of my dreams. I had got my life together, moved into an apartment in Irving not far from Dallas and one day I met this girl I was talking to in Orlando and we ended up connecting. I went to meet her and now 11 years later we have been together and I left all my exes in Texas, all my pain, and worst experiences even some of my best I never looked back. Now I have an album Ijust released and am writing a book called Ill about some of my life experiences in Dallas. I have a daughter now I raised since she was 7 thanks to her lovely Mom. Now she is 18 years old on her last year in school.

Since I moved to Florida my mother passed away in 2014 and I just lost my father last year so sometimes you make huge sacrifices to find love; even if it means leaving the place you call home. I love the city of Orlando a very beautiful kind hearted place. My life has changed since I moved here.

I've had my share of struggles but Dallas is where I went to prison, dealt with a lot of racism, and issues where I felt I didn't belong because most places there were gangs in my neighborhood. I heard constant gunshots and couldn't walk down the street in some places without having to defend myself. I got jumped and had to fight several guys of a different race and just was tired of living this way. Since I have lived in Orlando I haven't had many fights or problems with people. Out here I have bonded And Connected with people of many different ethnic background and I have been to many theme parks and beaches.

I love the sea life my dream has always been to have some connection to the ocean.

When I was sixteen I visited Galveston in Texas and it was the closest experience I had feeling the sand on my toes and collecting different types of shells and riding on a sea trolley.

I remember that is where I caught a shark off the pier something I'll never forget. Now I live an hour away from every beautiful beach and have a daughter who will be graduating high school this year. I met her Mom online when I got my apartment in Irving.

We talked for 3 days on the phone.

She was the sweetest girl I ever met. So she paid for my bus ticket to come meet Her.

The next day I said goodbye to my parents and family and In was off on a two day bus journey. I caught the city bus to the downtime Dallas Greyhound station and I was off to see Her.

It was a very long trip through four states.

I finally arrived in Orlando at the bus station as I was stepping off the bus I saw Her.

Beautiful blonde and blue eyes, beautiful smile, and as we met we kissed and hugged each other.

Over the next three weeks I stayed with Her at Her Dad's house. He was nice at that time He took us out to eat and I introduced myself. I met Her daughter at the time and she was shy and sweet.

From that moment on I knew I would be Her Dad to this Day she still loves me. So after 3 weeks in Orlando I had to go back to Texas to get some things and they came with Me we drove in her truck.

Somehow a week turned into two years before we got back to Orlando they lived with me in my apartment and we ended up having to get a two bedroom.

Martha my new daughter didn't even have a room but we made it work. The first night the kid floods the whole apartment by tearing off the bathroom sink. But I didn't care after the maintenance man brought a shop vac and took 3 hours to clean up the flood. These girls were not used to the cold shortly after we got back to Texas it snowed and they didn't bring winter clothes. That is the main reason why In moved to Florida I hate the Texas heat and I hate how cold it gets during the winter. So now we are still living in Orlando and we have a house, a dog, seven cats and a ferret. I guess you could say were living happily ever after.

Now -Michael McGaha