HEY THERE, COME ON IN AND MEET MY SIGNIFICANT OTHER, HE IS THE ONE THAT I PLAN ON SPENDING THE REST OF MY LIFE WITH AND ETERNITY -- I MIGHT AS WELL, SINCE HIS MOTHER WONT EXCHANGE HIM, GIVE ME A REFUND OR ELSE. BUT JOKES ASIDE, HE IS THE ONE. LET ME TELL YOU THE STORY OF OUR MEETING:
I FIRST MET HIM IN 1977, (HE WAS 18 AND I WAS 16) WHEN HE WAS STATIONED IN GERMANY WITH THE US ARMY. WE MET, WE FELL IN LOVE, GOT MARRIED, HAD A CHILD - SAM - ALL IN THE SPACE OF LESS THAN 2 YEARS. NEEDLESS TO SAY, NEITHER ONE OF US KNEW WHAT WE WERE DOING AND HOW TO DO IT RIGHT. DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL, IN DECEMBER OF 1979 WE ENDED UP SEPERATED, THE ARMY HAD SHIPPED HIM BACK TO THE US WITHOUT ME OR OUR CHILD AND SINCE THE PAPERWORK WASN'T COMPLETE, SAM AND I WERE GOING NOWHERE. AFTER A COUPLE OF YEARS I FILED FOR DIVORCE AND WENT ON WITH MY LIFE.
IN 1982 I GOT MARRIED TO RICK AND WE HAD ROBERT, RICK AND CORY AND HE WAS A GOOD STEP FATHER FOR SAM ( THE ONLY FATHER HE KNEW UNTIL HE WAS 12 YEARS OLD AND RICK AND I SPLIT UP). ANYHOW, RICK AND I GOT OUT OF THE ARMY IN 1988 AND SETTLED IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN, AND PROCEEDED TO SET UP HOUSE HERE. THINGS WERE ALRIGHT UNTIL RICK DECIDED HE NEEDED TO BE FREE AND FOOT LOOSE. DURING THAT TIME I, FOR NO UNDERSTANDABLE REASON WENT AND SEARCHED FOR KEN AND I FOUND HIM. MY MARRIAGE WENT DOWN THE TUBE OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS AND I CONTINUEDTO TALK TO KEN BY PHONE, HE WAS IN CALIFORNIA AT THE TIME. BUT ONE DAY OVER THE PHONE, WE HAD A FALLING OUT AND I CEASED TO CALL HIM . BUT I WAS STILL IN CONTACT WITH HIS MOM AND KEPT HER UP TO DATE ON HOW THINGS WERE GOING AROUND HERE.
MEANWHILE, RICK DIVORCED ME AND TOOK RICKY AND CORY WITH HIM -- I DO SEE THEM EVERY WEEK AND THEY DON'T LIVE TOO FAR AWAY FROM MY HOUSE. LIFE GOES ON, AND YEARS PASSED, I WORKED AND DID MY THINGS. THEN ONE DAY, JANUARY 3RD 1998, I GOT A PHONE CALL. I HAD NO CLUE ABOUT WHO IT WAS, ( TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHICH OF MY EX BOYFRIENDS IT WAS WITHOUT SAYING THE WRONG NAME), ONLY THAT THE GUY HAD A SEXY VOICE - BARRY WHITE EAT YOUR HEART OUT! - AND FISHING FOR CLUES. IT TOOK QUITE A NUMBER OF CLUES FROM HIM AND TO MY SHAME, IF HE HADN'T TOLD ME, I WOULDN'T HAVE FIGURED IT OUT. SO FROM THERE WE STARTED A LONG DISTANCE ROMANCE FOR THE NEXT 8 OR SO WEEKS BY LETTER AND PHONE AND IN FEBRUARY 1998 HE PACKED UP HIS STUFF AND CAME TO MICHIGAN. WHAT IS FUNNY, RICK NEVER WANTED "HIS KIDS" AROUND KEN, DUE TO MY BAD FEELINGS ABOUT KEN AND OUR MARRIAGE -( I TRULY HATED HIM FOR THE LONGEST AND OF COURSE DID NOT HAVE A GOOD THING TO SAY ABOUT HIM AND RICK BASED HIS OPINION ON MY "TESTIMONY")- AND NOW HIS KIDS WERE GOING TO GET TO KNOW THIS MAN AND THERE WAS NOTHING HE COULD DO ABOUT IT. ALSO SAM HAD TO WORK OUT A LOT OF HOSTILE EMOTIONS TOWARD HIS NATURAL FATHER AND IT WAS NOT EASY.
KEN AND I HAD BOTH CHANGED IN THE 20 YEARS THAT WE HAD BEEN APART AND IT WAS SCARY, BUT IT WORKED REAL WELL. AS OF NOW, SAM HAS RECONSILED HIMSELF WITH HIS FATHER, EVENTHOUGH HE DOES NOT CALL HIM DAD, RATHER POPS, FATHER OR BY HIS FIRST NAME. RICKY AND CORY LOVE HIM LIKE HE WAS THEIR NATURAL FATHER AND HE LOVES HIM EQUALLY. THEY THINK THE WORLD OF EACHOTHER AND WILL DO ANYTHING FOR EACHOTHER.
SADLY, KEN - HE GOT MARRIED AGAIN AFTER OUR SPLIT - HAS A SON, KEVIN, WHO IS ONLY 2 MONTHS YOUNGER THAN RICKY, THAT DOES NOT WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH HIM. HIS MOTHER TOOK HIM AWAY WHEN KEVIN WAS ONLY A BABY AND SO KEVIN NEVER REALLY GOT TO KNOW KEN AS HIS FATHER. KEN ONLY HAS THE RIGHT TO PAY SUPPORT FOR HIM, BUT DOES NOT GET TO SEE HIM. IN THE TIME THAT HE HAS BEEN HERE IN DETROIT, KEVIN HAS MADE NO ATTEMPTS TO MEET HIS OLDER HALF BROTHER - SAM - OR THE REST OF HIS NEW FAMILY. WHEN KEN TOLD HIM THAT HE WAS GOING TO MOVE TO MICHIGAN, KEVIN TOLD HIM THAT HE DOES NOT CARE AND DOES NOT WISH TO EVER SEE HIM AGAIN.
WE HAVE SPENT A LOT OF TIME TALKING ABOUT THE FIRST TIME AROUND, THE MISTAKES AND GOOD TIMES, BUT WE BOTH AGREE THAT NOW IT IS BETTER, FOR WE BOTH HAVE GROWN AND MATURED. HOWEVER, WE BOTH DO WONDER HOW IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN IF THINGS WOULD HAVE WENT DIFFERENT AND WE NEVER HAD BEEN SEPERATED.
YES, THERE ARE REGRETS, BUT WE UNDERSTAND THAT NEITHER OF US WOULD BE WHO WE ARE NOW IF NOT FOR THESE TRIALS. AND ALSO, THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT WE WOULD STILL BE TOGETHER IF HAD STAYED TOGETHER IN 1979. I AM GLAD THAT HE IS HERE, AND THIS TIME FOR ALL THE RIGHT REASONS. OUR FEELINGS HAVE WITH STOOD THE TEST OF TIME AND NOW WE HAVE THE RELATIONSHIP THAT WE BOTH ALWAYS WANTED. WE DON'T SHARE EVERYTHING, I HATE FISHING AND HE IS NOT INTO MY CRAFTS, BUT WE SPEND OUR TIME TOGETHER MEANINGFUL. WHAT WE DO TOGETHER COUNTS AND MAKES US BOTH HAPPY.

HE IS ONE HECK OF A MAN!!!!!!!!!!! AND ALL MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU HONEY AND THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH ME AND THE KIDS. XOXOXOXOXOXO
MY PARTNER FOR LIFE

THIS PAGE IS DEDICATED TO MY CHILDREN, THEY ARE AND ALWAYS BE THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE.



SAM - JUNE 4, 1979 HE IS MY FIRST BORN AND I LEARNED ABOUT BEING A MOTHER AS WE BOTH WENT ALONG. HE WAS VERY PATIENT WITH ME SINCE I HAD NO CLUE WHAT IT MEANT TO BE A MOTHER. AS MUCH AS I WANTED HIM, I WAS ILL PREPARED AT THE AGE OF 18 TO BE A PARENT. BUT NEVER THE LESS,HE TURNED OUT TO BE A GOOD KID IN THE GREATER SCHEME OF THINGS. HE IS VERY INTELLIGENT ( WONDER WHERE HE GOT IT FROM????), MY RESIDENT COMPUTER SPECIALIST-- THANK GOD FOR THAT---, HE LOVES TO READ AND HAS NONE OF THE VICES A LOT OF TEEN AGERS CULTIVATE.

ROBERT - MARCH 29, 1983 - JANUARY 29, 1984 HE IS A VERY SPECIAL BOY AND I STILL, AND ALWAYS WILL MISS HIM VERY MUCH. OFTEN I WONDER WHAT HE WOULD LOOK LIKE NOW AND WHAT HE WOULD ENJOY AND DELIGHT IN. HE DIED AT THE AGE OF 10 MONTHS OF VIRAL REYES SYNDROME AND TO THIS DAY I DON'T KNOW WHY HE AND HOW HE CONTRACTED THIS DISEASE. BACK THEN THE DOCTORS COULD NOT TELL US MUCH ABOUT IT, ONLY THAT IT WAS VERY RARE AND MORE LIKELY THAN NOT, IF I HADN'T FOUND HIM DEAD IN THE MORNING, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN A VEGETABLE FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. I AM GLAD THAT THAT WAS SPARED TO HIM, FOR I COULD NOT EVEN BEGIN TO IMAGINE HIM BEING LIKE THAT. FOR THE TEN MONTHS OF HIS LIFE, HE WAS WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT -- LOVE, SUNSHINE, HAPPINESS. AND THIS IS HOW I REMEMBER HIM ALWAYS.

RICK - FEBRUARY 29, 1984 HE IS THE ONE THAT GOD GAVE ME TO DEAL WITH MY LOSS. MAKE NO MISTAKE, RIGHT FROM THE START HE WAS SO VERY DIFFERENT FROM HIS BROTHER THAT DIED, THERE WAS NO WAY TO MISTAKE ONE FOR THE OTHER. DUE TO THE TRAGEDY DURING THE PREGNANCY, WHEN HE FINALLY MADE HIS ENTRANCE, HIS FIRST YEAR WAS VERY HECTIC. AT THE TIME OF HIS BIRTH WE HAD NOT YET FOUND OUT WHAT KILLED HIS BROTHER, SO HE WAS CLOSELY MONITORED AND SPEND 24/7 ON A LIFE MONITOR. BUT HE GREW UP TO BE A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN AND HE IS STRONG IN MIND AND BODY. HE IS SMART AND VERY DEDICATED TO HIS GOAL OF BEING A PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER AND WORKS HARD TOWARD THAT GOAL. HE IS ALSO VERY COMPASSIONATE AND LOVING AS WELL AS LOYAL.

CORY - SEPTEMBER 1, 1985 NOW THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ANOTHER BOY, BUT ONCE SHE CAME INTO MY LIFE, I REALIZED THAT CORY WAS THE ONE TO FULFILL MY LIFE. SHE IS SO VERY PRECIOUS TO ME AND SOMETIMES I SCARES ME HOW MUCH I SEE MYSELF IN HER. SHE TOO HAS HER GOALS FOR THE FUTURE AND IS WORKING DILLIGENTLY TOWARD THEM. JUST RECENTLY SHE HAS STARTED COMPETING IN SCHOOL SPONSERED DISTANCE RUNNING AND NEEDLESS TO SAY, SHE DOES ME PROUD - EVEN WHEN SHE COMPLAINS OF ALL HER ACHES AND PAINS.

I AM BLESSED TO HAVE THESE CHILDREN IN MY LIFE AND IN MY HEART, BUT THERE ARE MORE, THREE THAT NEVER HAD THE CHANCE TO BE BORN. EVENTHOUGH THEY NEVER WERE BORN, THEY ARE A PART OF MY LIFE, HOW EVER BRIEF AND I DO MISS THEM AND THINK ABOUT THEM. BEING PREGNANT WITH THEM HAS LEFT THEIR MARK ON ME AND MY HEART. AGAIN, OFTEN TIMES I WONDER WHO THEY WOULD RESEMBLE MORE, THEIR PERSONALITIES AND LIKES AND DISLIKES. I FEEL THAT THEY, TOO, DESERVE TO BE NOTED HERE, SINCE THEY TOO ARE MY CHILDREN.

MY CHILDREN ARE THE LIGHT AND LOVE OF MY HEART AND I AM SO VERY PROUD OF THEM. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MY CHILDREN,
THE JOY OF MY LIFE
CORY
ROBERT
RICK
SAM
INDEX
MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS
MY PETS, HOBBIES AND INTERESTS
MY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
UPDATE PAGE JUNE 2002
RICK'S GRADUATION & OUR TRIP
CORY'S HOMECOMING 2002