ItsInTheCards

Dad would have been 71 on the 29th of April. That sounds so old. Thankfully I will always remember him much younger. He's been gone for close to ten years now, I guess. (That's him in my new avatar pic.)

As a means to survive, Dad joined the Navy. I've seen this picture over the years at the homes of different relatives. There were also pictures of Dad in a Marine Corp uniform floating around. I always wondered why he served in two different branches. I never knew the whole...

I need a pick-me-up today so I'm going to talk a little about Dad. He's been gone for close to ten years now and I miss him terribly. But that's not what this is about.

Dad grew up the youngest of five. To say they were poor was an understatement. They lived in the mountains of North Carolina in an area known as Sandy Mush (outside of Asheville). From what I believe it's nothing more than a mountain. There was no indoor plumbing or running water and still isn't to this day....

Hi.

Today is April 7th and I'm 40 years old. I've decided to quit smoking and had my last cigarette at 9:30ish last night.

So far so good. It's 2:38 in the afternoon and I think I'm doing alright. I've had one fairly large nicotine fit about an hour and a half ago, but kept telling myself "I don't smoke anymore!" and it eventually went away. Being that today is my birthday I'm busier than usual with people stopping by my office to wish me Happy Birthday,...

For the one person who may stumble across my blog, I figured you might be curious about "Mom".

Well, to put it simply, Mom left us. I was 3 at the time. My younger brother was 18 months and my older brothers were 5, 6, and 7. Or somewhere close to that.

At the time, we were living in Florida. I have no idea what city. (Come on, I was 3). Dad had left on thursday to go to bid a job in San Francisco. He was to return late saturday or early sunday. ...

Ok, being the only girl in a house full of brothers definitely has it's drawbacks! On top of that, my father was ill-equipped. He did try, but was more of the opinion that if he ignored it, it would go away.

I guess I knew about the changes that would happen to me, I just simply wasn't prepared. I can't remember where or when "it" first happened, but I remember identifying with "Carrie" in that regard. I didn't have the necessary supplies, nor did I know what...