Tagged by Chris -- a looooooonnnnnggg post

FIVE PEOPLE I HOLD DEAR TO MY HEART AND WHY

First giving honor to God who is my number one love: Following are five people I hold dear to my heart:

My first born son – I believe him to be a strong person, whom I deeply admire. At the age 17, while still in college, he took responsibility for his first born daughter and never shirked his duty. Even though he feels guilty at times, and I don’t know why, except for maybe because he spoiled her too much, (you know as in spoiled brat), he did a fantastic job of raising her. They lived with me at the time and I was working for a temporary agency; therefore, there were times when I was at home to watch the baby. The only thing I was allowed to do was to make her formula and give her baths. My son insisted he could do the rest, including waking up in the middle of the night and feeding her. Due to the talent and creativity he has with his hands, he kept her hair looking nice as well as her clothes. When he was in college, he received a bunch of letters from his peers, all admiring him because of his talent, his fantastic drive and ability to attend school and raise a daughter. He maintained the title “student of the month” the whole time he was there. My first born is mindful of family, as he takes interest in his nieces and nephews as well and is a good son (he’s spoiled too). I could go on and on but I would have to write a book which I have done on this post.

My second born son – This is also a very strong young man whom I
also admire. He knows what he wants and goes after it. He wasn’t
the easiest person to raise and even though we had our issues, I
enjoyed having him as my son, and would do it over again if I had the chance
(I think). :-) :-) He struggled through his first years of college but
after about the second season, he settled down. In Little League
baseball, he continued to be an “all star” player and later went on to
play Little League football. In high school, he was the star of the
football team (The Hoover Huskies), and is now the Varsity Coach
for the same football team. He has grown so much in so many
ways. After he got married, I paid a visit to his new home and was
extremely shocked when I saw him cleaning house. When as a
youngster in school, there was a large closet off of their bedroom. He
called it “the pit” and I don’t have to tell you why. This young man
is a history teacher, football coach and is now attending
church. He has acquired his Master’s Degree I think in education and has
always had strong long-term goals which he is striving for and won’t
give up until he achieves them. He has become very helpful to me
also. In December of this year, he and his wife and family are taking
me on a cruise. I am a little scared but excited too.

My third born son: - This is a unique young man with a unique personality. He also has determination to go places with his career and so far is a real achiever. He is a music teacher, sings gospel music, writes music, performs in plays, etc. Number three son has always been quite independent and when he was a teenager, got a job at “rent-a-kid” shoveling snow for an elderly woman. He also worked for the weekly Shopper delivering their papers. While in high school he worked for McDonalds until he graduated. This kid is who I call my “warden,” because he looks out after me. I never have to worry about anything because he’s always there to help. If I need something he gets it for me and constantly checks on me. I gave him my credit card so as to prevent me from charging it up so fast, and now that I have paid it down and almost off, I can admit to having charged it up to $900.00 twice. It’s almost as if he’s saying “you took care of me, mom, now it’s my turn to care for you, and he does (no wise cracks from the peanut galory). He is a wonderful person and helps out his youngest brother who has two daughters suffering from Sickle Cell Anemia. He always makes me feel loved, as he has some gray hair in the back of his head and I tell him that each one has my name written on them. Ha ha

.My baby boy: This young man has been a real joy to me. He keeps
Me laughing all the time; in fact, when I am down, I may e-mail him or call him just for laughs. He confides in me and we are pretty close. My baby boy is a very talented young man, but is very shy; therefore,
Does not come out with it. He’s very intelligent and when he attended business college, was on the “Dean’s List,’ and is now an employee for the State of Minnesota. This young man is also very strong; he has two kids who suffer from Sickle Cell disease and he is well informed on their disease and knows exactly what to do when necessary. He has had to watch his girls in the hospital with tubes in them, blood transfusions, with the oldest, surgeries, a failed transplant, and also has to watch her through another transplant. He’s always there for his kids, takes them places and watches them at night whenever mommy has to go to work, even though he also has a part-time (gig) as he would put it. He is an affectionate type son and always makes me feel loved. Being that this is my youngest son, I think I spoiled him a little bit more. That tends to happen with the last child. Of course I love all my children equally and even though people don’t believe me when I say it, it’s true. I have written a blog about this young man and will publish it in a day to two.


Number Three Granddaughter: Even though I love and cherish all of my grand children, I picked number three because of all the things she has had to deal with in her life. She is eleven years old and was born with Sickle Cell Disease. She and her sister both have the disease but number three granddaughter’s is a more serious case. She is very receptive to my teachings of Jesus to her. I call her my little gift from God as she was born one year before God called my mother, therefore, by watching her for her parents when they needed me, we formed a special bond as grandmother and granddaughter and she filled the void well. I admire this little lady because she has had to deal with a lot with this disease and she remains strong and is a delightful little child. She has numerous medications to take each day and knows the ropes of what’s going on with her and why. In spite of having had chemo-therapy, radiation and loosing her hair, she has been a real trooper. A beautiful little girl, who sometimes gets bogged down with what’s going on with her and wonders why, she still loves Jesus. While going through serious pain in the hospital, I started reading the Bible to her and when I got ready to put it down, she said “no, grandma, please keep reading, it makes me feel better.”