Family Chatter: Happy 15th Birthday Joey!

"My Son.......Watching you grow has been the delight of my life. I look at you and wonder what dreams you will dream, what mountains you will climb, what joys you will have. I know there will be tears and struggles as well, but my prayer is that you will grow into the man you are meant to be."

I can't believe my baby is 15! I don't think he really likes for me to call him my baby, but he'll just have to get over it. I had Joey at a really young age, 17 and a senior in High School. I was already a single mother before I had him. The odds were against me raising this child that God had entrusted me with, I thought. My mom was a single mom raising us 3 girls, we were already a struggling family. I have to say though that moving to TX was the best thing I ever did for myself. I don't think our lives would have turned out this way had I stayed in MI.

Joey is going to be a sophmore in the fall. It's bittersweet for me. I'm enjoying watching him grow up, and making the decisions he is making, but I also remember some of what I was doing at that age! ;-) It's also sad to watch him transform into this young man, and know that one day he will be out of the home, and there will be another woman that is the most important in his life. Hopefully I have plenty of time for that, but all of us mothers know how fast life seems to go with our babies.

Joey is still full of so much love, respect, laughter, and has such a pleasant attitude. He's still the one in the family to do goofy dance moves to get us to laugh, still loves hanging out with his brother and sister, building tents for them in the gameroom, enjoying time outside with them, in the back yard soaking each other with the water hose. He still gives me hugs and kisses everyday and tells me that he loves me. He's growing like a weed right now, so he's not really one that I can have curl up in my lap anymore, but I do it now and then..

This year was a long year for him. He took 2 classes during his freshman year that involved him being at the school a lot. First was Sports Training, he had to be at the school every day for Football practices and all of there games in the fall and spring. And he was in Tech Theater as well, which meant he had to work a play doing stage set up. So there were plenty of days he was there from 6am-7pm, and some days he didn't get home until well after 10. He spent a lot of his time at home and in bed! Plus he ref'd soccer games on the weekend.

I think he's going to pursue a pharmacist career.. So we will see what this young man becomes... It's during this time in his life that I can see that I've done an OK job on raising him. I pray that it sticks with him.

Happy 15th Birthday Joey..

I love you with all that I have and know you can do anything you set your heart out to do.

My handsome young man