23 Years of Rachel

1986 was a great year. That was the year the sweetest little person came in to my life forever. I have learned more from Rachel than I am sure I could have ever taught her. She taught me the true meaning of love. Patience, (no wait, i'm still working on that one). Happiness. Optimism. Integrity. Common Sense. Don't sweat the small stuff. Never give up. You can do anything you set your mind to.
Whenever Rachel would call my office, my co-workers would say "Terry, your happy child is on the phone". That is the best way to describe her. Her personality is infectious. Everyone likes her, it's hard not to. She is smart, talented, knows who she is and what she wants out of life, and she accomplishes what she sets out to do. (Rachel graduated from college in 3 years...me = 28 years), I rest my case. In so many ways I wish I was more like her.
I won't be here on her birthday, which is Saturday, but I will be thinking about her and how much I love and appreciate her. She had to grow up faster than I would've liked and I don't know that I can ever make that up to her, but I know she was sent to me for several reasons, all of the above and many more. Thank you Rachel for coming in to my life. Crap! Do you know how old this makes me??

Finishing a Popsicle - One of my all time favorite pictures

Easter Sunday 1992

She loved dolphins....

Beautiful Bride

Never to be seen alone in a picture again....

See what I mean?

Anxiously waiting to hold a lion cub in Cancun.....still not alone....

Inseparable

I did it!

I finally finished something I started 28 years ago: my college degree. I am living proof it is never too late!
I have learned from painful experiences that life can change quickly, dramatically, and sometimes literally overnight. There is a scripture that says "if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear". A college education is one way to be prepared. Have you ever heard anyone say "gee, I wish I had NOT gone to college"?? I have to admit there are things I appreciated more having taken a 25 year break from school. I enjoyed learning more than I did when I was 19 and in my first year of college. My situation in life and in employment made it easier to understand the concepts that were taught because I had already experienced alot of them. I came to see the true value of teamwork and how my attitude and contribution could affect my team. I despised students who continually dropped the ball and did the very minimum they could do to pass the class. Didn't they care about their education? Didn't they want to learn? Some of them obviously did not, they just wanted that piece of paper. I had to learn to not let that bother me. One of my team members reminded me, "what do you call a Dr. with a C grade point average?".......Doctor! A scary thought. At any rate, that little nagging feeling that has been in the back of mind for 25 years is now gone. What next?

How To Walk the Dog in the Winter

My Vampire Weekend

So this is how I spent my New Year's break:

New Year's Eve, work half day, go see "Valkyrie", come home, start reading "Twilight".

New Year's Day, sleep in way too long, read a little, clean house, put Christmas away, finish "Twilight".

Jan 2: Spend entire day reading "New Moon".

Jan 3: Spend entire day reading "Eclipse", pause long enough to go SEE "Twilight".

Jan 4: Sleep in thanks to new later church schedule, go to church, come home and start reading "Breaking Dawn". Make dinner...eat dinner....pick up book...(dang, this one is really long!)

Jan 5: Work, bummer. I know have homework but I really want to finish this last book! Go home, (forget about homework) read all night. Watch first episode of Battlestar Gallactica with Peter.

Jan 6: Work, (do homework at work), can't wait to get home to finish book! Spend all night reading "Breaking Dawn".

This is why I should not be allowed to read books. I can't put them down until I finish. Good thing this series was only 4 books!