Faith, Family and Friends (Part 2)

Family -- This will probably be my favorite section to write about because I have been so blessed with a wonderful family. I hope I don't gush too much, because it would really be easy to do. I guess I'll start with my immediate family....

Eddie is my husband and we have been married since November 21, 1980. We met at the church I grew up in because he had become a Christian and decided to start going to church, and my church just happened to be in his neighborhood. I say "just happened to be" but I know now that it was not just a coincidence that this happened. This was all part of God's purpose and plan for his life and my life for us to meet and eventually get married and raise a family. When this new guy suddenly showed up in my youth group at church, I was very interested in who he was and where he came from, etc. I didn't immediately have a crush on him, but after a couple of months I really wanted to get to know him better. He had such a good personality and always cracked jokes in youth choir, so everyone liked him. However, being the quiet, shy girl that I was, I just waited. But when it was time for my senior prom(class of 1976), I happened to be talking to him at church one day and I slipped into the conversation the fact that I didn't yet have a date. He was so nice and said that he could take me to the prom. But he was in his first year of college and a couple of weeks later I got a letter in the mail from him saying that he was sorry, but he wouldn't be able to go to the prom after all because he had to study for finals. I was disappointed, but he did ask me out for a date after his finals were over, and the next morning after our first date, I told myself that I would marry him someday. He didn't know that I was the "one" for a long time after that because I didn't tell him or pursue him, I just quietly waited. After several years and a lot of stuff that I won't go into now, we finally did get married and we are in the process of living happily ever after.

Eddie and I have been so blessed to have two children, Aaron and Leah. I could say so much about both of them right now, but I think I will save the details for another post in the near future. I'll just tell a little about each of them. Aaron is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University where he received his degree in the Recording Industry. He has done some recording since graduating, but what he really wanted to do was play rock-n-roll. So, that's what he's doing. He is the drummer for a Christian heavy metal band called A Plea for Purging, and they are on tour full time. Aaron is a very unique, interesting and awesome person. I wish everyone could get to know him because he's a lot of fun to be around. He has very long hair which is in dreadlocks, and he has tattoos and his ears more than pierced. I guess you call it gauges. I don't like the guaged ears and I could do without the tattoos, but, he's my son and I love him. Leah is our daughter, and for the first couple of years of her life was called "Little Leah" our miracle baby. She was born very prematurely, weighing only 1 pound 14 1/2 ounces. It was a long, hard road, but she pulled through and has been a joy and a challenge to raise. She's a cute little thing with light brown hair (at least today that's the color), and she's about 4' 10" tall. She will soon be starting her second year of college at Troy University and hopes to one day be a substance abuse counselor. Having a daughter is so great because daughters keep in touch and call their mothers every day. She tells me what's going on in her life and sometimes we have long, late night talks. I love her and am so thankful for her.
My extended family includes my mother and dad who have been married for 53 years, and my three sisters and their families. I also have a mother-in-law and Eddie's three brothers. I guess I won't say a whole lot about the extended family because this is already longer than I had planned it to be. But I would like to say that I am thankful that my parents raised me in a Christian home and that they taught me the importance of church attendance. And one of the greatest things they ever did for me was to make me take piano lessons. Without the music in my life, I don't know what I'd do. When I don't have anything to do, I always have something I can do and I'll never be bored -- I will always have this gift. So, thanks mom and dad for making me practice and go to piano lessons all those years.