similarly adopted William Holodnak as being
my son, and that happened in September
of 2012.
During the Fall Semester of 2014, Karrisa
Martino entered my life when she enrolled as
a student in the Ballroom Dance classes that I
was teaching for Xavier University, in
Cincinnati, Ohio. At some point during her
second semester in my classes, Karrisa and I
began sharing some heartfelt conversations. I
then asked Karrisa if she would allow me to be
her father, and she said “Yes.” Karrisa
completed all of the beginning and advanced
dance classes that I taught. She then spent
several more semesters as a volunteer helping
me to teach the newer students. Karrisa has a
biological mother and father, plus the entire
range of biologically related family members.
She also has me as her second father, and
having her as a daughter brings a great sense
of happiness to my life. I have tremendously
enjoyed dancing with my daughter Karrisa.
Our favorite thing to do as father and
daughter is something called greeting the
Sabbath on Friday evenings. We usually do
that at a local restaurant where she begins
our celebration by lighting candles, which
starts the Sabbath. After the candles are lit, I
bless her as my daughter, we have wine and
bread, and then we share a few hours of
conversation plus dinner. I normally eat my
meals very quickly, but when greeting the
Sabbath with Karrisa my plate of food slowly
grows cold because I become absorbed into
the conversation.