Thank you so for reading my post and for your responses. They are all very excellent and will help me to put this story into perspective. I know that they will definitely help me move in a good strong direction. The wheels are already spinning in my brain and I am thinking of another hoop that she must survive and add to my story.

Thank you all very much
Kristina

P.S. I was just thinking about character growth last night. I was watching SVU. Yes I am addicted. I have watched it since its beginning 20 seasons ago. I was thinking about the character Olivia Benson. I can tell you what her priorities and values were in the beginning, how they spoon fed her past in and how her priorities and values still remain the same but have taken a deeper root. The viewer just doesn't see this happen as she increases in rank, but rather they feel it. - That is how I want to write.