Gifts from God - My OTHER Extended Family

Yep, that's right....my OTHER extended family. Who else would I be referring to, other than my In-Laws? Let me just go on record right now and say that I honestly love these people. I do!!! We have ALWAYS gotten along and have never had any issues. That in itself is a true blessing. There aren't too many people who get along with their in-laws. Aren't some referred to as "Out-Laws"? Fortunately, not in our case.

Here's more:



Thank you God, for the gift of: My Mother In Law - Mattie
All I can say about Miss Mattie right off is, what a super sweet, super cute lady! My goodness, she raised 7 kids...by herself and for the most part, they're all pretty sane :-). Mom, is an awesome, God fearing lady who has shown that through trusting in the Lord, praying, and just plain ole faith, she can do anything. I don't have the space nor the time to go over her resume with you. But I will say that she has led a pretty impressive life. And oh my goodness...talk about an AWESOME cook!!! I have added several of her recipes to my book. But none have been perfected quite like hers. However, I have almost gotten her famous cornbread down to a science :-). I should also mention that this has also got to be one of the strongest women I've ever met. Sure, she's got some physical strength to be only 5 feet tall :-). But her emotional strength surpasses any I've ever known. Mom, has not only raised 7 kids but has lost 3 of them. I can't even ALMOST imagine what it must be like to have a child die...let alone 3 of them. But again, this lady is amazingly strong in her faith and knows that in EVERY situation, God has her back. Mom currently lives with us and honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. She has paid her dues and raised her kids. So it's only fitting that we do for HER now. The kids simply love Gradma being with them everyday. I also love the fact that she LOVES being here. For this gift, I am thankful!!
Thank you God for the gift of: My Sisters & Brothers In Law - Paula, Dwight, Randy, Kenny, Solomon & Faith
Wow, that's a lot of new sisters and brothers, huh? As I mentioned in an earlier post, it was only me and my sister, Kimmy. So I am very fortunate to have inherited (by marriage) 6 more siblings. Paula, is my husbands oldest sister. What a remarkable woman! She never forgot to give a phone call on me and Marque's birthday. She'd even sing to us over the phone :-). On the day that me and Marque got married, our car broke down about a mile away from the church. So Paula, my new sister-in-law, drove me and her baby brother to our own wedding reception. She always laughed about that. A few years ago, Paula was diagnosed with breast cancer. And passed away last July (2005). My very first BLOG entry was about that experience. I miss her very much. Dwight is the 2nd child. I didn't get to know Dwight as well as I had hoped. We didn't see him very much. Which is sad, because he passed away back in 1995 due to a car accident. Randy is the 3rd born. Randy is simply a jokester :-). He's always cutting up and has always made me feel very welcomed as his "sister". Kenny, was the next born. This was another cut up :-). I was fortunate enough be able to spend quite a bit of time with Kenny. For some time, he lived with mom, so I got to see him almost weekly. In 1993, Kenny passed way. He too is very much missed. Solomon....what a cool guy. He was Marque's best man in our wedding. And from what I can tell, he's the one who "taught" Marque how to be such a rough houser :-). He is also the one who was very instumental in showing Marque what it is to be a good husband and father. Last but not least, there's Faith. There aren't too many words to describe her. But from all the years that I've known her, she's is the most protective of Mom and Marque :-). She's the...vocal one of the family and she's the one that will tell you like it is...so it's best to be in her good graces. I haven't had a run in with her yet, so I guess I'm doing alright :-). Faith is also the one we named Jayla (Faith) after. She's the perfect aunt and all the nieces & nephews love her. What wonderful siblings I have. For this gift, I am thankful!!
Thank you God for the gift of: My Aunts, Uncles, Nieces, Nephews, Cousins & nim :-).
As mentioned earlier, I don't have the space or time to list all of my "other" extended family members by name. If you remember, I married into a HUGE family...my husband is the youngest of 7 children! What's amazing is, he has nieces that are older than him :-). So again, I'll say that just like with my Mother-in-law and my sisters/brothers-in-law, I truly love my extended family. I don't think my husband has ever had a true "family reunion" ...because with it being SO many people, everytime we get together, it's like a family reunion. And I honestly LOVE that! It is SOOO much fun to hear the stories of how things were when they were kids. I'm surprised my husband isn't paralyzed from the neck down after all they did growing up :-). But to me, THIS is what family is all about. This entire family has been through SOO much and they've always come out on the other side as stronger individuals and stronger as a unit. I've experienced things over the past 19+ years with this family that I would never have been able to see had our paths not crossed. Most experiences happy and some not so much. But I must say my life has truly been enriched by knowing each and every one of them. For this gift, I am thankful!!

"To forget one's ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root."