Pg 24 - My Story

Hello again and thank you for coming back to read my on-line manuscript as I am writing at least a thousand words or more a day.  This may be a little boring, but then I guess my life is not as interesting as a lot of other people. But I hope this little bit of writing is showing how love may start as a feeling
and then it develops into more and finally it is a choice to remain with what you have or start over. The rewards of keeping it alive I cannot put into words. Jimmy and I are so different. For instant I am a morning person and he is not. So when I get up I can be very loud in the morning and active. Jimmy on the other hand likes it quiet in the morning with his cup of coffee and the news on TV.  For a long time we banged heads on this until we figured out that we can just work around each other’s differences. I think another difference is I usually see the cup as half full where as my husband doesn't always see it that way. I think that is what life is about, working around each other’s differences, accepting each other, and being there for each other.  I think the biggest reward is the memories of my kids growing up, are Jimmy’s memories as well.  When we reminisce we can finish each other’s statement or remind the other what may have been forgotten at the moment.  We can check out the photo albums and see OUR memories, not yours or mine. Well on with my story.  

My nephew Bradley came to visit us and Kristina was still in town so we decided to give New York a try. 
It was a very cold day, and we found a sightseeing tour bus and gave it a try.  If you have never been to New York, it is amazing to see the buildings with the light up TV screens everywhere. Definitely not like Chicago.  I fell in love with Time Square. We went to the Empire State Building but after waiting over thirty minutes and the line not moving we decided to go on to other things. After all I have been in the Sears Tower in Chicago, and I can’t imagine it being much different.

We were on an open top bus and sat on the top with nothing to protect us from the wind, but the sight of New York was amazing.  I guess only in New York would you find a McDonalds that had music live from a piano player up in a corner of the room.  As we walked around to tour this beautiful city we saw the Statue of Liberty far away across the water. It was too cold and too late to get a ferry but we knew we would be back. 

We found a bus that was now closed to the wind and enjoyed the Christmas lights as we continued to tour the city.  The trees were full of white little lights that glittered and a carousel at the world trade building was working. Radio City looked so inviting and well just to look at the streets in the evening between the cars and the buildings at Times Square looked like a different planet.  It was a fun and cold little tour.

January came around and it was Jessica’s 16th birthday. What do you do for a 16th birthday when you really don’t know anyone?  I had to put on my thinking cap and asked her to see if she could find a few girls to come over.  I decorated with balloons and she had about three friends that came over and I decided to have a facial party.  Yea, I gave them facials, did their makeup and then Jenny took them out to a pool hall to play pool.  January passed with Jimmy’s and Jenny’s 21st birthday which we went out to eat with her  and her new boyfriend at that time.  Before you knew it, Adias turned four years old.  We had her birthday at McDonalds with a couple of her friends from our neighborhood.

Mean while, Jessica was working part time at Fuddruckers and one day the place was being robbed.  This male employee noticed what was starting to happen and dragged Jessica across the street to safety. The rest of the employees got locked in the freezer.  This was the start of a new relationship for the two of them and he is married to her today. 

The kids and I took another tour of Washington D C.   As we walked around the grounds we came to the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial built to honor the 16 president.  My girls were giddy as they ran around the pool of water, talking about the movie Forrest Gump and how his lifelong Jenny waded in the reflection pool to say hi to Forrest. 

Erik, Jessica, Regina, Becky girlfriend, Adias by the Lincoln Memorial

It snowed hard this year. I remember my ambulance getting stuck with a patient in side. We had to find
towels to lie down over the snow and wedge under the wheels to get our ambulance to finally slide out of the spot it was stuck in. I was never as cold as I was trying to help and get our ambulance to move.  And yes I helped Adias make a snow man that year.

Regina turned 13 yrs old and I made her my old idea of the birthday ribbon full of candy that I made for Jessica one year.  She had a slumber party that year, hoping that I was making it special for her.

As the year passed I tried to do the best I could to make this an adventure and not dull and boring move. After all it was not like the kids knew a lot of people, we were brand new to the area and they were getting bigger.  I found it is much harder to move the kids from state to state being older in age than when they were younger.  We took a trip at Easter to see my parents since we were like only six hours away.Two of my sisters were there and we colored Easter eggs and with so many cousins around the table it was actually more fun than usual. We had an Easter egg hunt in my mom’s front yard and some of the kids got brave to jump into the pool in mom’s back yard even though it wasn’t warm enough.

June arrived and Adias graduated preschool from the church she was attending it at.  Yea, one of the first things we did was find this great church to get involved in.  They had a ministry that met once a week in an apartment complex. We taught the kids to sing songs, gave a bible story, do an arts and crafts, and made them sandwiches to eat. Some of the kids in that area went to bed hungry and we hoped we were helping a little.

Adias graduating pre-school with her mother Jennifer.

The kids were out of school for the summer and Kristina came for a visit so we decided to try and do some more sightseeing. We went to Ocean City for an afternoon.   It was a fun day with a picnic lunch and burying each other in the sand, not counting playing in the waves of the water and yes Zack, the boy who rescued Jessica came with us.

We went back to DC to show Kristina but this time we also viewed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It was still like new to us, as we ventured the White House, the Smithsonian, and the Washington Memorial.  I love doing these things with my kids and this time it was just me and my kids.  

I got Jimmy to take us back to New York with the plan to see the Statue of Liberty. We had to take a ferry ride to see the statue and the crowd of people was unbelievable. But it was a sight that was worth fighting the crowds.  If you ever go to New York this is a must to see and yes we had a pleasant day.  

The Statue of Liberty: Kristina, Erik, Jessica, Regina, Jennifer, Adias

 We celebrated Kristina’s 24th birthday and before we knew it, we were on the move again.  Jimmy’s company didn’t renew his contract so he had to go looking for another job. Zack seemed to be hanging around all the time and he wasn’t happy to hear that we were moving out of the state but decided that he was going to be a permanent fixture anyway. So Zack drove with us as we traveled back to Illinois.

Jimmy found a job in Decatur Illinois. So with three cars full of family and Zack we were on the road
again.  Jimmy had a couple of weeks before he was to start, so we went to his dad’s house and we celebrated Erik’s 20th birthday.  I love Chicago and I wanted to see it all again as if this was the last time I would see it. I wanted my kids to love what I loved about the city.  So I took my kids, Crystal, my niece, and Zack to show off the city. Of course we started with pizza at Giordanos, no one knows what good pizza is until you eat at Giordanos in Chicago.  Next I took them to Navy Pier and rode the 150 ft high Ferris wheel.  We ran around Buckingham fountain before my tour really began.  I brought them to the Field Museum, and Museum of Science & Industry. When I lived in Chicago and I only had a couple of kids I use to bring them all the time, but that was years ago and they were all too young to remember.  Jimmy had to go to the new house in Mt Zion but I didn’t have a job yet so I got to drive to Wisconsin for my Aunts wedding. 

It was hard to believe but I was finally 46 yrs old.  My Aunt Linda was getting married on my birthday. We drove to Wisconsin and all three of my sisters showed up. What a great reunion for my kids to see all of their cousins and for me and my sisters to reconnect. My Aunt Linda looked beautiful as she walked down the aisle with her husband to be. I was the photographer of this wedding and I don’t have to tell you how much of an honor this was for me.  It was great to see all my relatives with their kids.  My kids went
horseback riding and four wheeling and made wonderful memories. After the wedding Patti and Nanci came back with me to my new home for a visit and we toured this new city together.

This is all for now. I hope you are having fun in this life time, making memories that count.

Sisters: Beverly, Nanci, Marie, Patti

Cousins: all of our kids except Kristina