Ed hadn’t seen his daughter since she was a newborn. C4’s parenting classes helped Ed put his anger with his daughter’s mother aside to enjoy his newly won visitation rights.

When he saw his 8-year-old for the first time, Ed remembered the advice he got from parents and professionals at C4. He smiled and said, “Hello.”

Ed says, “Without C4, I would not have my daughter back in my life.”

When Ed finally visited with his eight-year-old daughter at McDonalds, it was bittersweet.

After several years of court battles, he had finally obtained visitation rights to see the brown-eyed girl he had not laid eyes on since she was a newborn.

“It was very hard not to run over and hold her in a big bear hug,” recalls Ed, “but I didn’t want to overwhelm her. “ Instead, the 34-year-old father took the advice of other parents and coordinator at a C4 parenting class he had just enrolled in. He simply looked at his beautiful daughter and said hello.

“The other parents helped me deal with painful feelings, like why I wasn’t there for my daughter during those eight years,” Ed says. “They helped me realize that I couldn’t blame her mother if I wanted to avoid hurting my daughter.”

The North Side realtor took baby steps, inching back into his daughter’s life. Accompanied by other family members, the father and daughter met at local parks. He met her at the McDonalds’ Playspace. He talked to her. He grew to know her.

Other C4 parents gave Ed the advice and emotional support he needed to re-establish his relationship with Jadian. When his own father faced life-threatening heart surgery, Ed was initially angered by his former spouse's refusal to let his father see the granddaughter he had never met.

Taking the advice from the parenting class, Ed did not react angrily. Instead, he took his daughter's photo to his father’s bedside.

“Without C4, I would not have my daughter back in my life,” Ed observes.

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