GRADUATION AND THIS N' THAT

Emily ready to take on the world
At her Graduation Party

Emily:
I ran a day care center in my home for 17 years as I've said many times, and Emily was one of my baby's. I started out taking care of her older brothers, Garrett, and Eric, and then Emily came along . I was able to watch her brothers from the ages of 2 and 6 months, and I took care of Emily from the time she was 6 weeks old until she was 11. Then she was helping me take care of other kids for which she got paid every week. There were alot of firsts for me with this family. I potty trained all three kids, and I put all three kids on the bus for their first day of kindergarten, along with their Mom, and we both cried each time. Although it was worse when we put Emily on the bus for kindergarten, because we knew it would be the last time for us. I had always said when Emily started kindergarten I would retire, well that didn't happen. I would get a call and someone would be begging me to take their baby and so it would all start all over again. I would again feel committed until that child would start kindergarten. That was how I was still watching kids when Emily turned 11. Emily had learned how to change diapers at age 6. She would beg for me to let her give them their bottles, so I finally started teaching her how, and she was good at it. It helped me out alot because it was nothing for me to have five babies of various ages at a time. I always had a helper in the summer because with school being out I sometimes had up to 17 kids everyday with the older brothers and sisters out of school. Normally during school I usually had only 6 a day. When Emily was 11, I got really sick and had to quit doing day care. After spending a week in the hospital, the diagnosis: I was in heart failure at 45 years old! That last day was hard on all my Mom's and me, we all cried. It was the hardest on Emily, she cried all day and didn't want to leave me. I told her that she could come and see me anytime she wanted, and could even get off the bus at my house after school. That was the only way her Mom could get her to leave. She took me up on that offer quite a bit, and you know what it helped me as much as it did her. I owe her Mom, Jessica a great deal for being able to share her daughter with me and not feel threatened by our relationship. She always introduced me as her kids second Mom which was very generous of her. Alot of my mom's felt that way, and knew they could go to work and not worry about their kids while I had them. Anyway I wasn't sure at that time, that I would even make it to Emily's graduation, because my cardiologist said he was afraid that I was going to have to have a heart transplant. In the meantime he was treating me very aggressively and had me on a huge amount of medications. Which I hated taking every day, 3 times a day, I didn't even feel like myself on them. Well, the medication worked and I didn't have to have any surgery to make a long story short. Each month I got better, and was able to do more things, soon in the summer Emily and I would go to the lake and stay at our trailer for 2 to 4 days a week. We did alot of crafts, talking, watched our favorite movies, went swimming and things like that. Mostly we just had fun, so that is why we are so close. It was a great honor to have Jessica trust me that much to take Emily places while she was at work during the summer. So at Emily's graduation I cried again, but it was tears of happiness. She has grown into a beautiful young woman and I am so proud of her! She is going to Wright State University in the fall. She is majoring in education, and is going to be working towards being a school superintendent. Wow! Anyway at her party this last Saturday they had a picture board. On that picture board was a picture of me putting her on the bus and one of me with her in her cap and gown at her graduation. Good things come to those who wait! I feel very blessed!