Many have nurtured me!

I was blessed to grow up being loved on by my mommy and her four sisters!  Left to right they are Aunt Laurel, Mommy Carole, Aunt Ella, Aunt Linda and Aunt Kaye.  Here they are with my daughter Rebekah at her high school graduation.  She is a lucky girl to have a Grandma and 4 Great Aunties to love on her!  So the nurturing continues to the next generation!

Aunt Laurel is my mommy's older sister.  I have many letters she has written me while she lived in Michigan and I lived in Ohio.  She is a scholar and I remember attending her graduation from graduate school.  She always wrote to encourage me in my Christian faith and in my studies and still does.  Just this past May I took a road trip with my daughters and Aunt Linda to visit her in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  It was fun to hear stories about our relatives in the U-P and our Finnish heritage.

My Mommy is my rock!  She is very strong and has overcome many difficult situations.  I call her and my Dad "statistics busters"!  They had my brother when they were teenagers and me four years later.  They have been married for 51 years!  One of the biggest things my Mommy taught me was to "love the sinner, hate the sin."  She has many alcoholics in her family and was a great example to me when I went through my divorce.  She taught me not to take someone's actions personally  and to separate their illness from the good person inside of them.  This kept me from being consumed with anger and it has made all the difference in my life.

Aunt Ella babysat for me a lot when I was a child.  She and my Uncle Jim always made me feel like one of their own children.  She shows me she loves me by sending me cards of encouragement and ideas for ways to decorate or organize my home.  She is a devout Catholic and I know has said many, many prayers for me over the years.

Aunt Linda is my most playful aunt.  She is always the one that took me in the water on family trips to the beach.  She had me visit for a week at a time every Summer and did projects with me like sewing a special tote bag before I started Junior High.  Today my oldest daughter goes to college near her and I feel so comforted to know that Aunt Linda is nearby.

Aunt Kaye is like a big sister to me.  She is only 12 years older.  She always took me for rides in her car and I especially remember her taking me to Taco Bell, someplace my parents have never eaten.  To this day I love Mexican food!  She is a single parent.  Having gone through a divorce herself, she was a tremendous encouragement to me that I would be okay when my marriage broke up.

I know it is through the loving nurturance of these ladies that I have grown up to be able to nurture my daughters and all the little children in my care.

Here I am with my daughters, Rebekah and Elizabeth, before the Scotty McCreery concert at the Ohio State Fair.

  

FAMILY

There's a special kind of closeness that only families know,

That begins with childhood trust and deepens as you grow.

There's a special kind of happiness in sharing little things,

The laughter, smiles, and quiet tasks that daily living brings.

There's a special kind of comfort in knowing your family's there,

To back you up, to cheer you up, to understand and care,

Of all the treasures life may bring, your family means the most,

And whether near or far apart, that love will hold you close. 

                                                                         GLENDA CAMPBELL

My mother bought this poem in a framed print for me and all of her sisters.  It is hanging in all of our living rooms.