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HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONATHAN!!!

28 years ago I was in the hospital in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I wasn’t in the best of shape after being in labor for over 24 hours, having a "regular" delivery after a C-section the first time, and before it was all said and done, needing minor surgery anyway. Didn't matter, I was still thrilled because we had another fine son! He was born 3 weeks early and seemed tiny at 6 1/2 pounds when compared to his older brother's birth weight of 9 pounds!

Jonathan being held by his Great-Grandmother Ruby Nichols
while big brother Richard looks on - February 1980.

It didn't take him long to fill out though, and before you know it, he was up toddling around. The picture below was taken when he was about 1 1/2 years old, and we were camping at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut.I couldn't find one where he actually had the blanket over his head. Maybe I never had one, but anyway, there's a story behind this picture. Jonathan was supposed to be going to sleep, and was being a little rowdy, even after repeated warnings. When we came back inside the camper to get after him, he quickly threw the blanket over his head, and held really, REALLY still.

After all, at that age, you figure if you can't see your parents, they can't see you, right? I guess it at least worked well enough to get him out of trouble, because we were too busy laughing to reprimand him anymore.

By the time Jonathan was ready to start school, we'd moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio to West Virginia. We ended up back in the same little town where I was raised. His second grade teacher, Mrs. Oldfield, was one of my best friends when I was growing up!

While we were there, Jonathan was a Tiger Cub in Scouts, while Richard was in the older ranks of Cub Scouts. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed living in the house we built on a 7-acre plot from the farm where I grew up.

One of the things we enjoyed was the number of hummingbirds we could entice to the feeders. We never got up to the major numbers that my friend, Ann, had at her feeders in Ohio, but a couple of dozen at once wasn't unusual. Since I was doing some freelance writing at the time, I took a picture of Jonathan and one of the hummers at a feeder, and sent it in with an article on hummingbirds. It was published in a children's magazine (I think it was "Jack & Jill"), so Jonathan can say his picture was in a national magazine!

But all good things must come to an end, or so they say (whoever they are), and we moved away from our home in Eureka to Wheeling, then to the Cleveland, Ohio, area and after that on down to Alabama.

One of the things the boys enjoyed most about our house in Alabama was the swimming pool.

Jonathan and one of the boys' friends, Billy, in the pool.


We had a lot of changes in our life while living in that house. Jonathan had a lot of health problems with strep throats and ear infections and ended up having a tonsillectomy, plus he also had mono. Through all the ups and downs, Jonathan continued to make good grades in school. He and Richard also started attending a youth group at church, and were baptized.

We stayed in Alabama until halfway through Jonathan's senior year of high school. Jess and I wanted to move to a little farm, and it wasn't any further for Jonathan to drive to school from the new place than it was from the old.

Before you know it, Jonathan graduated, and is now coming up on his 10th high school reunion. Wow! (I don't even want to think how many years it's been since I graduated from high school.)

Here's the clan at our then-new home in Tennessee. That's Richard, Jonathan, Jess and my dad in the back, with Chrystie, Mary and me in the front.

He started working as a computer programmer while still in high school, and continued to do that at various places for a number of years afterwards.

Here he is about four years ago, holding a goat kid.

Now he's at a crossroads again, after trying out some college courses and realizing that wasn't going to work out. The question is, what next?

Headed off to work at Toys R Us.

Jonathan has changed a lot in the last few years, and become much more outgoing and confident. He's done things that just a few years back I would never believed he'd do. So I know whatever he decides to do next, he'll do well!

So, here we are, and Jonathan is celebrating another birthday. I don't know about him, but I feel lots better today than I did 28 years ago!

Happy Birthday Jonathan!!!

1 comments:

What a wonderful tribute. Seeing the early pictures brought back so many memories.