First and foremost -- I am absolutely flabbergasted at the level of response to my last post. Last night I was able to send over $3500 to Kyle's aunt to help defray the cost of fighting this custody battle, thanks to the generosity of dozens of people -- most of whom don't know Kyle, many of whom don't know his aunt, some of whom don't even know me. I'm floored. You people are awesome.

So, an update on the ongoing situation: Kyle's dad was clueless enough to bring him to a court hearing, where the judge had the good sense to order that Kyle should go home with his aunt. The father still has visitation rights, which are being honored, and so far he's (barely) abided by the terms of the custody order. It's anyone's guess whether he'll continue to comply with it, though. Kyle's mother is also temporarily out of the hospital, and while she'll be going back in again soon, she and Kyle are at least getting to spend time together.

The real battle now is over whether Kyle's mother's wishes will be honored -- whether Kyle will be cared for by his aunt after his mother passes away, or if his father (who has repeatedly committed custodial interference, the Pennsylvania version of parental kidnapping, and has stated his intention to do so again, since apparently it's really difficult to get that prosecuted in Pennsylvania) will get custody of him. That's going to be a long, uphill battle, since Pennsylvania law puts a lot of weight on biological rights -- but we're not giving up until we know that Kyle will have a safe, stable, long-term home with people who love him.

Thank you, again, to everyone who donated money, everyone who passed the message on, everyone who's been helping out with research and other resources, everyone who left comments and encouragement. You're my heroes.