Toys in the Attic

Two posts in a short time frame, but there are a few new things to discuss therefore you get a TGIF on an actual Friday for once...lucky you. Today is my parents' 38th wedding anniversary (thanks to Amanda for pointing out my numerical error on lj earlier...whew). We only know a few bits of the backstory of my folks. For instance we know how the met...sort of met... My father who served in Vietnam and in Japan in the mid to late 60s had as one of his fellow servicemen a young man named Laverne Harold Wiedeman. Harold had several photos in his locker including one of his sister who had just graduated from high school. My dad was quite taken with the photo and eventually began corresponding with her. Mom was also quite taken with Dad and eventually they met in person and the rest is, as we say, history. They were quite young when they married, Dad was 24 and Mom was 19 I believe. Dad was a world traveler by that point, a veteran of the Navy, but still a small town country boy from the Bayou. Mom was also a small town girl from the hills of Colorado. When they married in January of 1968, they only had a short time together as my Dad was scheduled to go back for another tour of Southeast Asia within a few months. When he left, he didn't leave my mother alone and 10 months later I was to arrive- Dad still far from home. In fact it would be 6 months after I was born before he would meet me, though the pictures I have of me as a baby are filled on the back with messages from Mom to Dad, and photos of Dad sent back with messages about me. They make quite a beautiful record of love. When Dad came back to the States it was only for another brief stop. He was immediately stationed to (then West) Germany on the north coast. This time however we went with him. In 1970 they had a little girl, Christina Marie, who tragically passed away after only 6 days. Knowing the story, I was always sad about losing a sister I never really remembered, yet I always felt a missing piece to my life. I never really consiered all that much though how it must have affected my parents. Now that I have my own child of course, I can't fathom how two people in their early twenties, so far away from their families and their home, could handle such a tragedy. I am so much in awe of their resolve and courage. Somehow they carried forward and a year later my brother David was born...and the world would never be the same. Soon after David, we returned to the States to be stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. Where in 1976 my sister Esther arrived. My Dad at this point was 32 and my mom was still in her 20s. They had experienced so much, so young. Through all the ups and downs they've always let us know that no matter what, they loves us. So Mom and Dad...Happy Anniversary!!! Well I finally received my Ancient Egypt grade...I managed to eke out a B I'm quite stunned actually, but there you go. This semester is shaping up nicely. I love my classes and I think the work involved, while difficult, will be more personally rewarding than last semester. We're all still waiting on Maria to HAVE THIS BABY!!! Which will hopefully be in the next day or so. Today Ginny Grace gave me a lovely gift...an entire t-shirt full of baby puke...nice...thanks honey...thanks.. Picture time: taking a bath...