Memories of a 28 year old

Oh the day I have both been looking forward to, yet dreading. A year older. This day, 28 years ago, I was born. A coal black headed little baby girl. As I was trying to think about the post I would write in honor of this joyous day, my mind drifted back to many different memories. There was my post! I grow emotional just thinking of all the events that have transpired through these 28 years of my life. It's hard for me to not write a book about each one of them. How I have grown! Thank the Lord! I may fall and face trials and tragedies; but I pick myself up and allow God to dust me off one more time.

Memories of a 28 year old
(in no particular order)

1. I have no idea what my age was, but I remember I was very little. I want to say it was a Sunday night at church. Back home in Sherman, TX at the First Assembly of God. I gave my heart to God. Many people write this specific date down in their Bibles or even transplant it in their memories. Sometimes I feel guilty because I don't know when. But you know, it doesn't really matter as long as we KNOW we are saved. I remember a lot of people gathered down at the alters. I was sitting with my mom watching as I noticed a lot of the children were gathering together down front. My mom asked if I would like to go and there I went. Thank you God for your saving grace!
   



2. Grandpa Luther Lowry. Some days I can still feel his arms around me. I can feel his rough, calloused, hard worked hands holding mine and his chin whiskers rubbing against my soft cheeks. It's like he would not shave on purpose. He would often gather me up and do that to me and I would just laugh. It was his way of showing me how much he loved me. It's funny how we show our love sometimes. He was my favorite Grandpa. I'll admit it. I had a favorite. He was a wonderful carpenter and oh what I would give to have had him build me a house or a set of cabinets. I hope to see him some day in Heaven.
   



3. Little Collinsville, TX. I think ever since I was a baby Dad would load me up along with the rest of the family and we would head to our "ranch". I have to laugh at that because anybody who knows what this "ranch" looks like knows it is anything BUT a ranch. It was a place that my great-great aunts lived and had many animals - too many animals. But Dad would have cows he was raising there and so we would go tend to the cows. My first memory of a cow was when I was little enough to be standing up in the seat of Dad's truck. The windows were rolled up and Dad left me in there to watch him feed. I was standing up watching and a cow came right up to the window. I just knew he was going to come through that window and get me. Haha That's when I knew I was not meant to be a "ranch" girl. My favorite part of Collinsville was the little mini-mart where my brother and I would beg Dad to stop. We just had to have a coke icee. This wasn't just a regular coke icee. Still to this day I have not had one like it. Oh, I can still recall the cold coke icee going down my throat into my tummy and giving me a temporary brain freeze. I'm sad to say, the coke icee's are not at the little mini-mart anymore.
   



4. My childhood best friend, Kristi Miller (Shilling now). If people didn't know any better, they could have called us sisters. Each with dark hair. We grew up in church together. Often we would spend countless days with each other. Sometimes it would be days in a row. We just were inseparable. I can not see the movie Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken without thinking of Kristi. I promise you, one Summer we probably watched this movie a dozen times. We'd talk on the phone for hours. Not only talk but sing with each other also. I remember one time calling her and we'd sing His Eye Is On the Sparrow from the soundtrack of Sister Act 2. We'd sing it like we had some "soul" in us too. I am so thankful we are still great friends today.
   



5. My greatest best friend today, Summer. What would I do without this girl?! Oh my. We may live hours apart but we each try to talk to each other just about every day. If it wasn't for instant messenger, we'd be lost. Isn't that right, Summer? We vent, we cry, we give each other advice, we laugh until we fall out of our seats.....all on AOL instant messenger. I spent numerous nights at her apartment on what Summer calls "the marshmallow". Summer would you please take a picture of that thing and send it to me before your mom gets rid of it? The smallest lounger and I would sleep on it during college after Summer had spent the previous hour doing my Statistics homework.
   



6. One of the best accomplishments I have made in my life was graduating college. I remember standing in line at the coliseum and flash backs of the last five years were sorting through my mind. I had done it! I had actually survived five years of college and I was about to walk across that stage and get my diploma. Being the emotional person I am, I began to cry. People probably thought I was nuts as we stood there waiting to enter in. I should have been crying about all the student loans I was about to be responsible for. LOL I had never been more proud of myself. It was a great day and I am so blessed that I was fortunate enough to experience college life.
   
   


7. Braces. What can I say? They are usually every teenagers worst nightmare. Well, those that have to wear them. But mine came later in life. I can always remember being extremely self-conscious about my teeth. They were horrible. I couldn't wait to get them. Finally my freshman year in college my mom was able to afford them for me. I was so thankful. Braces were the best gift my mom could have ever given me. Seriously! I wore those suckers for 4 1/2 years too. Geez! The day I went in to get them taken off was a wonderful day. I smiled from ear to ear. When the orthodontist assitants were taking pictures of me I started to cry. I know. I'm such a cry baby. But to have so many years behind me of something to feel so down about, it just made me want to cry. I remember driving back to work and I had to call mom and thank her for the wonderful gift she had given me. I told her I couldn't thank her enough. I was speaking through my tears of course. :)
   



8. I have to of course mention Wes. We met either May 1st or May 2nd, 2002 went on our first date May 3rd and we have been together ever since. I remember walking down from my apartment, with Summer, and noticing this guy sitting with another guy from our apartment complex. This guy (Wes) I had never seen before but instantly thought "hmm, he's cuuuute!" I was drawn to his smile and his gorgeous blue eyes. We talked for hours seemed like. I knew instantly that this guy was heaven sent. He is my best friend. We have grown a lot together. We've gone through trials together. We've experienced a strength in our love in the past few months that can be so overwhelming at times. I love the man God chose for my life. Wes was in the plans. Thank you God.
   



9. I have to say I had never dreamed I would be a stepmom. It just goes to show we do not plan our life, God does. I will admit when we got that letter in the mail December 2002 I was heart-broken. We had just been married a short time and we were finally finding out the results of the paternity test. Through the feelings of "what do we do now", one thing was so clear to me. We were going to make it! We had God on our side. We all make mistakes but this little child didn't ask for this to happen. He was brought into this world for a reason. I am so thankful that I have a good relationship with Logan's mom. We all get a long and that is what is most important for Logan. I remember the first time I saw Logan. We were getting him for the first visit, our first weekend. Talk about emotions. They were overwhelming. I was nervous. I was scared. I was angry. I was happy. I was excited. We walked in the apartment Logan and his mom were living in. I knew without a doubt that he was Wes's son. He looked so much like Wes's baby pictures. Logan was 5 months old. This little baby boy sleeping in his car seat ready to go. He would soon greet his grandparents, uncle and great grandparents for the first time that night. I would hold my stepson for the first time. I loved him from the second my eyes laid on him. A kind of love only God could have allowed me to give. What would he think of me? Would he love me? Would he grow up accepting me? No one could ever measure the love I have for my stepson. And I have the pleasure of being called Mom.
   
   Thanks for taking the time to read my memories. I can't wait to see what else God has in store for the rest of my life.