I will never tire enough of talking or writing about my favorite subject, so I am going to give it another “go.”
It is a week early, but I’m going for it. Besides, it will be revealed before you stop reading this column anyhow.
Yes, Oct. 19 is nearing and that’s the day my favorite and only son, Jamie, was born. He will be turning 49 this year. Imagine that! Where have all of the years gone?
Those who know him, know he is proud of his age, unlike me with mine, and he does a good job of it.
He was born on a Sunday morning, 13 days after his due date at Wayne Hospital. And, then he arrived via a C-section at 10:15, they said. Why didn’t they just say 10:19 as he was born 10/19/75. It would have made it simpler for me to remember.
We have had some hurdles in our lifetime, but we survived with the help of family members and friends who helped out as I was working a lot in the newspaper business, which was a plus for us.
I am so proud of the things he has accomplished over the years despite being labeled developmentally-handicapped in his early years of education.
He needed one-on-one attention instead, I was told, and now I can see why they said that, but I was reluctant to believe it at first since he was putting together multi-piece puzzles between kindergarten and first grade. He also needed speech class as he couldn’t speak complete sentences and he did that one summer before kindergarten.
Now, he loves to talk and you can’t shut him up, but I still adore him.
Jamie, a 1994 graduate of Ansonia High School, has learned lots of things over the years and I owe it all to those special classes he had to take.
He has always loved to read and still does. He has a lot of interests….country music, karaoke, bingo, playing cards and reading magazines of all sorts, not to mention his family and friends.
I guess Jamie’s problems stemmed from his not always being able to comprehend things, the doctor once told me. There are still things he doesn’t get done, yet there are things he is also better at than he was.
Jamie is a people-person and that amazes me. I know and have met a lot of people through my work and now it seems like it is so easy for him to make as many friends as well. I don’t mean to brag, but he likes people and they like him.
And, he shares his love for God when he gets the chance and he does it well. He can make a person feel better with his uplifting advice.
And, for that, I am so glad and proud to be his mother.
He always finds the good in someone even though some things indicate otherwise.
We aren’t going to do too much this year for his birthday, but I’m thinking I am going to have to do some planning for another party next year on his 50th. He would just love that.
We did it on his 40th and he really enjoyed and appreciated all of the people who showed up. And, he’s the first to tell you that he’d rather have his friends than gifts on his birthday.
I did surprise him though that year when I invited Steve Baker, formerly of Channel 7 news, to attend much to the surprise of Jamie. Steve obliged and showed up with his wife, and, yes, Jamie was surprised.
Oh well we will wait and see about next year. I may even surprise myself. That’s a ways off yet, but I’m sure it will go fast just as the last 49 years have.
Everybody is his friend and, if they’re not, they are missing out on someone special.
Nobody knows what the future will bring, but I know that with the time I have left it will be spent with him. He’s my life.
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Jamie and I extend our condolences to the families and friends of Kimberly Sebring, George Baughman, Tom Hans and Lori Poling Rammel.
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Seeking prayers for these people: Jack Edwards, Tonya Kelly, Jody Christman, Robert Christman, Mike Hopkins, Bruce Knick, Beth Royer-DeLong, Debbie Francis, Melikka Riffell, Roan Brubaker, Bob Christian, Dan Garber, George Kenworthy, Mike Doyle, GraceLynn Harter, Chester Bryant, Linda Johnston, Terri Hunt, Amy Brewer, Patricia Maier, Ken Wombold, Delores Beisner, Jodi Gilpin Snyder, Charlie Bulcher, Ron Moody, Charlyee Severance, Justin Fritz, Jeremy “Jerm” Burke, DeWayne Yohey, Katrina Hoening, Kent Snyder, (cousin) Carol Byrd, Gladys Neff, Kara Didier, Carl Francis, Craig “Cheese” Thompson, Bridget Brown, Don DeBord, Otis Stewart, Chris Clark, Slug Midlam, Bob Peters, Phyllis Brumbaugh, Judy Collins, Linda Gasper, Carol Hemmerich, Stephanie Klingshirn, Brenda Schlechty, Betty Burnfield, Dan Lockhart, Roberta Hall, Pam Norman-Penticuff, Kelly Kelch, Mike Mayse, Steve Waymire, Nikole Baldridge, Lester Beisner, Mark Lovejoy.
Also, Judy York, Donald Booker, Dennis Leeper, Connie Stachler, Randy Heck, Ronnie Norton, Gary Eichler, David Pretzman, Clinton Randall, Ralph Byrd, Sonja and Dan Coppess, Bruce Kaiser, Amanda Mote, Paul Gigandet, Doug Whittington, Tracy Pratt, John Rimmer, Joan Keen, Larry P. Fitzwater, Jim Thomas, Neal Gray, Judie Hathaway, Randy Garrison, Kathy Gragorace, Donna Bixler, Cathy Melling, Scott Clark, and all others who are suffering from other life-altering illnesses.
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Happy birthday:
Oct. 15 to Rodney Hiestand, Stacy Moody, Ryan Moody, June Singer and Ed Erisman.
Oct. 16 to Al Gasper, Staranna Mikesell and Betty Murphy.
Oct. 17 to Chris Cox, Lynetta Lore and Logan Daugherty.
Oct. 18 to Dwight “Bufford” Edwards, Bob “Boo” Jones, Heather Brown Suerdieck and Susan Pyle.
Oct. 19 to Jamie Moody, Diana Shook-Armstrong, Dawn Muhlenkamp, Dee Morris, Laura Gibboney, Judy Hoffman, Marjorie Hammaker, Tina Schmitz, Ron Rismiller, Deb Rammel, Kassy Wentworth, JoAnn Keen, Marv Stammen and Dustin Jenkins.
Oct. 20 to Michelle Leugers Enicks and Chelsea Gates.
Oct. 21 to Doug Amspaugh, Trudy Matthew, Randy Christian, Pam Phillippi, Dave Brewer, Emily Sturgill, Teresa Erwin, Beverly McCabe Baker, Tim Tyo, Barb Heindl and Rachel Wellman.
Happy anniversary to: Mark and Chelsea Gates on Oct 15; Dick and Linda Yount and Rick and Lynne Gump, all on Oct. 19; Bob and Sarah Daugherty on Oct. 20; and Ed and Vicki Ruhe on Oct. 21.
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Think about it: “Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools talk because they have to say something.”–Plato
