For parents, building nests, rather than cages, for baby birds can prove difficult. 

In Max Blau's story "How Jim White Helped His Bluebird Spread Her Wings," originally published by the Sunday Long Read, a songwriter and his daughter learn to overcome turmoil to love each other on equal terms. 

Blau, a 2018 graduate of the Low-Residency MFA program at the University of Georgia, spent years interviewing the subjects of the story, Jim White and daughter Willow Martin. He squared their accounts of a messy custody battle and inter-personal growing pains with family members, and he fact-checked the details against court documents. The result is a story about how parents, as their children forge their own identities, must understand their role with clear eyes.

Max Blau is an independent journalist based in Atlanta, Georgia. His work has appeared in publications like the Atavist, ProPublica, Atlanta, and Georgia Health News, among many others.