Ups and downs of a father-daughter relationship

Janice Baptiste stops during a walk at Jenkins Park.

“My dad left us a long time ago. When they split up I was still a tiny, little thing playing with the chickens and other animals in our yard in Saint Lucia. He moved to Saint Croix and from there to Houston.

“Growing up, I didn’t have much contact with him. But then, when his mother passed away and he came back to bury her, he decided to take me along with him to Texas. It was surprising. But I was 23 and very excited because everybody wants to come to America.

“Now, it’s more than 20 years later, and I have a good life here. I’m married. We have two children. We recently moved into a new house, and we can see deer in our back yard.

“My father is married to a different person, and they live in Houston. We don’t have that close father and daughter kind of relationship. We never really did. But he’s still my dad.”

— Janice Baptiste, 45