Spring Break - Chicago Style

 Spring Break 2023:

Asked the boys what they wanted to do, there response, stay home, do nothing.  Asked if they would be up to something.  Collin's response not if I'm going alone with you and Bob, "that's just weird".  

So we compromised, Chicago with Collin and Alex.  Cregan stayed home and worked and took care of Nacho.  

The first thing we did was go on an agriculture river boat tour.  I love that, I love learning the history of that amazing city.   We ate amazing food, we toured and shopped and shopped.   

Not sure what there favorite part of the trip was but I really loved taking them to Gordon Ramsey's burgers.  

Personal History #6

 Where did you grow up?  What do you remember about this place?

I grew up in many places.  I moved from England in the 1st grade to Georgia, and then never really lived in the same house for more than 2 years until I was in the 8th grade, moving from Georgia to South Carolina once.  

But when I turned 13 we moved to a small middle Georgia town named Hawkinsville, population under 4000.  It is famous for few things, the Harness Festival, which is horse race and a football player, Charles Johnson who played for the Carolina Panthers.  But that was when my parents bought a little piece of land and a single wide trailer in the middle of a Georgia red clay dirt road. 

It was in that house that I meet and kept some of my closest friends.  It was here that I made countless memories, some good, some bad, some funny, some very sad.  

My parents expanded the 2 bedroom home very slowly, first they added a large front porch in the front of the home.  That was torn down eventually and they built a dining room/sitting area in the front and an additional room.  Then one weekend my step dad had a friend drop asphalt down on the dirt driveway and we all raked it as flat as we could.  That driveway ended being one bumpy, lumpy mess but we had done it.

One year I had gotten a tree for Arbor Day, I planted it in the corner of the front yard, year after year I would watch as the tree got larger and larger.  My mom decided to get chickens at some point, I remember the stupid rooster attacking everyone that tried to collect eggs.  

A few years back while visiting my sister, we went to the trailer.  It was abandoned and we snuck in.  We were both struck with immediate nostalgia, but also I was shocked at how small the house was now.  In my memories it was a much larger place.  I realized that it was all the family events, dinners, holidays, my moms knick knacks and 1000's of other little things that filled that now empty space that made it feel bigger.  

I'm often saddened that I have no home to go back to.  My friends and family who have their parents still around and essentially their childhood home still around never quite understand how blessed they really are to have it.  I feel like the loss of my parents and my childhood home attached to that loss, made me appreciate the everyday moments that I have with my children, they push me to make each holiday, event, birthday that much more special and precious.  I know my children dont appreciate that, but someday they will and that is all that counts. 

Personal History #5

 Personal History #5

Do you have siblings?  Write about them.

I'm loving writing about my personal history.  I've wanted to do this for a long time, primarily for me but also for my kids.  Many of the people that I'm writing about in these entries, my kids have never met and that includes most all my siblings.  

I have a lot of siblings, half, whole and step...

Keven Young - my oldest brother, he was my mom's first child with her first husband. I think I met Kevin when I was a baby, I don't know much if anything about him.  I have tried to touch base with him for years through social media but have never been able to get him to respond.  He has red hair, lives in Australia.

Christopher Young - my mom's 2nd child.  I met Chris when my sister passed away in 1989.  I remember he was very kind.  Chris also lives in Australia.  He most recently got married, he travels a lot.  

Ian Lee - My bonus brother.  If you read my post about my mom, you will find out that Ian was given up for adoption as a baby.  I never knew he even existed until 2001.  I got to meet him when I went to England twice.  I'm so lucky to have him in my life.  He works in construction, lives in England.  Married and has 3 kids.  

Michaela Miller Rabon my oldest sister.  My mom's first daughter.  Mickey is what she went by was the product of my mom and her boyfriend Gus.  She was raised by my mom and dad and I didn't know she was a half sister until I was in double digits.  Mickey had 3 kids - Benjamin, Matthew and Meggan.  I would go spend the summers with her and her family.  Even though I was younger than her, she was always kind, inclusive and loving to me.  She was killed by a drunk driver in 1989 while her, her husband and her 3 kids were heading to dinner.

Carl Miller - my only full sibling.  Carl lived with our dad and I would see him every other weekend.  Carl joined the marines after high school.  He was married a few times but never worked out.  Most recently, he found a long ago love again (from high school) and they eloped in 2022.  He seems very happy.  He has a son, Ty, I was so happy when he told me he was having a son.  I'm pretty sure the Miller name was going to end with him. 

Eric Stoker - my step brother.  Eric is my step brother from my dad and his wife Angie.  Funny story about my step mother and step siblings.  We knew Angie and Joe when my parents were married and stationed in England.  I played games with Eric and Melissa when I was just a little kid.  Eric is married to a Melissa and they have 2 children - Savannah and Hudson.   

Stephanie Pierce - my step sister.  Stephanie was my step sister from my mom and my step dad Jody.  Stephanie was 3 years older than me, she was always liked by anyone who met her and if you really got to know her, it was hard not to just love her.  She was killed while driving to work back at 1994.  She was engaged and had already picked out her wedding dress. Both myself and my younger sister Tonya wore her wedding dress in our first marriages in honor of her.

Melissa Stoker - my step sister.  Melissa was Eric's sister.  She was a year younger than me, we were close growing up, even though I only saw her every other weekend.  Melissa has one daughter, Cora from her first marriage.  She remarried a few years back and she seems really happy.  We haven't really stayed in touch, its hard when I live so far away.

Tonya Curry - my step sister.  Tonya is Stephanie's younger sister.  Tonya is 3 years younger than me.  We are the closest out of all my other siblings.  Most of this is due to the loss of Mickey and Stephanie and my mom and step dad.  We feel like we are all that is left of our family unit growing up, and truthfully we are.  Tonya came into my life when she was 3 and I was 6, and we lived together for the most part the majority of the time.  Tonya was married to Robert and had Alex, they divorced and then she married Jason and had Jody.