It's My Life

Julie Isa over at Tattered Threads and Willing Hands has created a weekly blog post so that you can document your life for your children. As soon as I saw this I wanted to join. In 1997 Charlie & I purchased his Mom & Dad journals. They were called A Mother's/Father's Reflection. Each page had a question about their life, childhood, holidays, growing up, etc. When they passed away in April we were able to take these and read them. They have been a comfort. I read the stories and I can almost hear Lethia's voice telling it to me.

I hope you'll join me in this endeavor,here's how we'll do it. Each Tuesday you will have several questions to answer. Each month there will be a 'theme' for the month. For example, we will start with your family and ancestry, then we'll move on into the house of your growing up, your childhood, holidays & celebrations, romance, parenthood, etc. sometimes the questions will be simple, sometimes they may not even apply and other times, you might find it hard to answer. there's never a right or wrong answer.

Here are this week's questions:

I included my step parents because they've been apart of my life forever!

What is/was your Mother's name? Brenda Faye Brewer

What is/was your Step-Mother's name? Carol Ann Biller

Your Father's Name? Edwin DeWayne Condra

Your Step-Father's Name? Jerry Lynn Cassell

Your grandmother's names? Juanita Helen Kyle (maternal) Mary Dell Owen (paternal)

Your grandfather's names? Zolas Hiram Brewer "Bo or Johnny"(maternal) & David Turner Condra(paternal)

What did you call them? Daddy & Mother, Mamaw & Papaw Brewer (maternal), Granddaddy & Mama(paternal)

Do you have brothers and sisters? Yes, total of 10; 1 older brother, 1 younger brother, and 1 younger sister. 3 step-brothers, and 1 step-sister. 3 half-brothers.

What are their names? In order, DeWayne, Shane, Nakia, Dabreon, Corey, Brendia, Skyler, Caleb, Andrew, & Jordan

How old were you when they were born? DeWayne is the only one older than me, and he is 5 years older. Shane, Nakia, Corey, & Skyler are my step-brother's & sisters so I wasn't around when they were born. :) But, I was 5 when Dabreon was born, 8 when Brendia was born, 15 when Caleb & Andrew were born, and 18 when Jordan was born.

I'll give you our birthdates to give you an idea of all of our ages. DeWayne-July 1968, Krista-September 1973, Shane-October 1973, Nakia-April 1975, Dabreon-October 1978, Corey-February 1979, Brendia-October 1981, Skyler-December 1986, Caleb-January 1989, Andrew-June 1989, and Jordan-December 1991. Yes, I know all of their actual birthdays but I didn't think that was appropriate to put on the internet! :) DeWayne, Me, Dabreon & Brendia have the same Mom & Dad. Shane, Nakia, Corey & Skyler have the same Mom & Dad, just not my Mom & Dad, hehehe. Caleb and I have the same Mom. Andrew & Jordan and I have the same Dad. Now, are you confused yet?

Do you remember the first time you saw them? Yes, Dabreon was fat! Brendia was too tiny! I declared Caleb as mine at first sight! Andrew was born with a tan, and lots of dark hair. Jordan was born 2 weeks after my son, and he looked like Mo from the 3 stooges!

What about your aunts and uncles? Vicki & Al (maternal), Harold (paternal)

Did they play an important part in your growing up? Until I was a teenager we didn't live anywhere near my Mother's family so I didn't get to know my Aunt Vicki & Uncle Al until i was an adult. But, we were around my Uncle Harold and his family all my life. Uncle Harold's wife is Polly. We spent every vacation, holiday, birthday, etc with their family. We were all really close, and I thought of my cousins as siblings!

Did your family get together much casually or did you have to travel to spend time together? I spent a lot of time with my Uncle Harold and Aunt Polly. They lived in Midland/Odessa Texas and we lived in Pampa Texas. It was a drive to their house, but we did it all the time. I loved it because they had a pool! My mother's family lived in Knoxville TN so we didn't spend much time with them until we moved to Knoxville when I was a teenager.

I hope this isn't too much for my friends to read, and you may learn more than you ever wanted to know about me!