Bryan Thouvenel couldn’t hold back his tears when his daughter Harmony was finally back in his custody.
Harmony had disappeared from his life two years before when he and his ex girlfriend broke up and she took Harmony, never wanting to be seen again.
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Thouvenel met his ex at a karaoke bar in 2010 after his friends convinced him to go out, the News-Review reports. There, the two immediately hit it off and began a two-year relationship, during which their daughter Harmony was born. Not long after, though, things went south, and Thouvenel’s ex disappeared to Washington state, taking Harmony with her.
Thus began Thouvenel’s extensive search for his daughter. He even wrote and dedicated a song to her.
Even though they were gone, Thouvenel filed for custody in 2015 in Oregon and won, but he still didn’t have Harmony.
Then, one afternoon, as he was having lunch with his mother in Myrtle Creek, a friend called him and said he saw Harmony at a Salvation Army in Spokane, Washington. Without missing a beat, they jumped in the car and drove 10 hours to the city to search.
Once in Spokane, he got a court order saying that Harmony was to be returned to him.
Source: Kate Alaimo/The News Review
Harmony and her mother had been living in the Salvation Army homeless shelter, but were now brought to court where the judge made the decision to give Harmony to Thouvenel.
Thouvenel told News-Review that a police officer told him to wait on a bench at the court house for Harmony. Then, something amazing happened.
“I sat there and the next thing you know I’ve got my daughter coming out, walking by herself,” he said. “She’s kind of looking around, and I said her name once. She kind of looked at me funny and I said, ‘Harmony, it’s daddy.’ Her eyes just kind of lit up.”
With Harmony back in his life, Thouvenel looks forward to rebuilding their relationship and making new memories. Thanks to the non-profit Time To Put Kids First, the two will be going on vacation to Hawaii this May.
Despite his bad relationship with his ex, Thouvenel said he wants them to be cordial and put their daughter first.
“I’m just really hoping that mom and I can connect and put our differences aside for the sake of our daughter,” Thouvenel told KREM 2. “I don’t want to focus on any of the negative aspects of the story at all. The one thing that matters in this whole story is a little girl. This is her life.”
