Image via Wikipedia

   I came into this world fighting for survival.  I was born prematurely, weighing only four pounds and thirteen ounces.  My mother had been having complications with her health that threatened her being to have me on my due date.  Therefore, the doctor wanted to induce labor and gave my parents the option of having me on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.  My parents chose New Year’s Eve.

   My mother called me strong!  She always said, “You are stronger than you think.”  Even though I was small, I became the oldest sibling of one sister and two brothers.  We lived in one small town for about three years and then we moved to another small town.  Even though it seemed there was never anything going on in this little town, we always found ways to have fun.  The highlight of the summer was the Farmers Picnic.  There were games, carnival rides, yummy food, softball, and many other exciting things to do.  As kids, we could never get enough.  All too quickly, the Fair ended and we had to find other ways to amuse ourselves, which in our case was never hard.

   When I started school, I found it to be fun and exciting.  My mother never had a problem getting me up in the morning.  At her first call, my feet were on the floor; I dressed quickly and headed downstairs for breakfast.  I could not wait for school to start.  My favorite subjects were Math, Spelling and Reading.  When I was ten my family moved to another town.  I thought that I was going to be afraid to make new friends, but I adjusted well.  I also had some pretty good teachers which also made the adjustment go more smoothly.  All too quickly, I grew up and graduated from high school.

   As much as I had loved school, I was ready to leave home and start my own life.  In my generation and in previous generations, most women did not go on to college.  Their only wish was to be a wife and mother; my desire was no different.  My boyfriend had been discharged from the army in February, and we were married in October.  My husband had been a Vietnam Veteran, and he was anxious for some stability in his life.  I had my first child when I was only nineteen years old.  Rebecca was beautiful, the perfect blend of her father and me.  Two years later Johnathon was born.  I could not have asked for a more adorable baby boy.  After Johnathon, I had two miscarriages, but finally Lesleyann arrived to complete our family.  My world seemed perfect, but life is not always as it seems.  An unavoidable incident entered my life, and I was pulled into a world that I did not want to be a part of.  I wanted reality to be a bad dream from which I would soon awaken, but that did not happen.  My husband of thirteen years left me for an older woman.