:: October 12, 1990 ::

Guess what I did on that day?

I married my best friend. I married the young man who stepped up and assumed responsibility for me and my young daughter. I married the man who shouldered the burden of providing fresh milk and diapers for a child who was not his own, but who quickly began to call him "Daddy". I married the man who I would grow old with.

Nineteen years ago. We stood in a musty cramped office, with funky ORANGE shag carpet, and repeated the words the Justice of the Peace required us to in order to get the "Certificate of Marriage" that would bind us for eternity. We stood before God and pledged ourselves to each other. We promised to love one another through sickness and in health, through good times and bad -- although, at that time, the "bad times" and "sickness" were something that only happened to other people.

I can't say it's been easy. I can't say it's always been fun. And I can't say that I have always enjoyed being his wife. But I can honestly say that I love him.

And I can say we've stuck it out. I can say that we've muddled through the good times and the bad. I can honestly say that he has stuck by my side through sickness and through healthy times. I can honestly give him credit for our 19 year marriage.

And I can most certainly proclaim that we have created, nurtured and raised our beautiful children.

And I can say that I married the man I am growing old with. I love you!

:: Stop & Smell the Roses ::

"It isn't the great big pleasures that count the most; it's making a great deal out of the little ones."

Jean Webster
Daddy Long-Legs

It's Official! I'm a Football Mom, Too!

Today is a Banner Day in my household! It can't get much better than this!

One child a Freshman in college, another a Freshman in high school. My big fish in their little ponds have now been dumped into bigger ponds! AND my baby played in his first official High School football game!

The youngest of my three children, the smallest of my babies ... the little boy who barely weighed 7 pounds and whose little bitty legs looked like twigs when he was born has grown into a 260-pound Defensive Tackle with a size 12 shoe that any Football Mom would be proud to call her own!

We put a football helmet and pads on this child at six years old, and he has played with all his heart ever since. The game has not always been his friend ... he has been discouraged and disgruntled at times, but he always comes back to it. And that kind of perseverence can only be explained by a genuine love of the game!

Oh, and he's a pretty good kid, too!

It's Official! I'm a Hokie Mom!!

We delivered our daughter to her college dorm room tonight. A fairly painless procedure for us ... if you compare us to the thousands of other exhausted parents and students who had been =Moving In= all day. Remember, my daughter is very independent and self-sufficient ... she had already filled her car to the brim and carted =just= about everything she owns to her new address earlier in the day.

Oh, and she's very pretty, too (even if I am her mom) ... so there were plenty of "Frat Boys" available to help her unload her car.

So all we had to do was walk her to her door, kiss her good night, and tell her that we love her ... and that we are very, very proud of her.

But surprisingly, what I thought would be the easiest part of this whole "High School to College" transition with her actually turned out to be the hardest. The hardest part was coming home ... coming home, knowing that my daughter would not sleep under the same roof with us ... coming home without her, turning off the front porch lights and locking the door ... locking the door to a home that did not shelter all of my children for the night. And, until tonight, I thought I would welcome the day when my daughter grew up and didn't need us any more.

Our job is almost done. And I think we've done a pretty good job preparing this young lady for what's next.

Family :: Friends :: Fireworks

Happy 4th of July!

:: Pomp & Circumstance ::

... our daughter graduated from high school this morning. This beautiful young lady ... this child who has been pulling away from me since the MINUTE she was born eighteen years ago ... has cleared another one of the biggest hurdles into adulthood.

This young lady walked across the football field -- on this beautiful Spring morning -- with her head held high and her shoulders back and proud ... and casually accepted her high school diploma. She knows she has worked hard to gain this little piece of paper ... and she realizes that not every one of the children she started kindergarten with twelve years ago was in that line of graduates with her this morning. But she really has no idea of the significance of her hard work and efforts over the past twelve years. She has no idea how this persistence will pay off over her lifetime. I doubt if she will ever know how proud we are of her.

:: Run for the Roses ::

Congratulations to Mine That Bird ... winner of the 135 Kentucky Derby.

It's the chance of a lifetime ... in a lifetime of chance