Recently I did a series of introductions to all of my siblings, so I guess it's only right that I now introduce myself; although, actually, if you've been reading my journal for any length of time, you probably already know everything about me that I want you to know. But, just in case, I'll introduce myself properly.
I'm Lori, and I live in Southern Indiana, right across the Ohio River from Louisville, KY. I am actually a Kentucky girl by birth, by heart, by soul, and by everything else that matters, including college basketball! (Oh my, those Wildcats are not making a very good start this season, are they??) Anyway, I was born and raised in Breckinridge County, Kentucky, 40 years ago. (In my mind and heart, though, I'm only 20!)
My father was a very hard-working, family man, who officially retired from his job of 30 years at the age of 65, but who continued to work as much as he could until he was near 80. He died at the age of 80, 4-1/2 years ago, and I still miss him very much. He loved good harmony singing, family gatherings, and a good joke. There were times when I was growing up when we didn't have much, but we always had what we needed. He never missed a day of work for illness or for bad weather; the only time he ever had to miss work was when he was in the hospital for appendicitis. The link above is to an entry I did on my father that, to me, tells exactly what kind of man he was.
My mother is a very hard-working, nurturing lady, who, at almost 83 years old, is still going strong and can out-work me and all of my sisters combined. I spoke to her on the phone on Tuesday, and she had just come in from "clearing grass out of the buckberry bushes". She never worked outside of the home after her marriage to my dad, except, I believe, for a very short time when they were first married. But she certainly worked inside the home. She raised seven of us, with 18 years between the oldest and me, the youngest. Every one of her sons-in-law and her daughter-in-law, as well, have praised her as the perfect mother-in-law, which says a lot right there. And she is adored by her 11 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. My parents were children of the depression, and that certainly shaped their work ethics, family values and habits. As I said, there were times when we may not have had much, but my mother is a wonderful cook and seamstress (as well as a good money manager), and my father was a good provider, so we always had tasty and well-prepared meals, and decent, clean clothes to wear. We always sat down at the table for our meals and there was always a homemade dessert at dinnertime.
I was born and raised in a very rural area. We did not farm, but we always had a garden and lots of pets. We always had dogs and cats, and at various times there were horses or ponies, goats, chickens, geese and ducks, as well as the occasional wild animal that P.J. or Barb would bring home. I lived in the same house all but the first year and a half of my life, and it's the house that my mother still lives in. I went through the eighth grade in the elementary school four miles away in the county seat, and graduated from Breckinridge County High School in a class of about 180 students; also attending the vocational school right next door. I was the editor of our high school newspaper, and right after I graduated I went to work for a local weekly paper. I was hired as the layout artist, but when you work for a small paper, you wear many hats, and so I reported, wrote feature articles, took and developed pictures, typeset and proofread.
I married at age 21, to my husband of almost 20 years, Thomas. A year after Thomas and I had been introduced by a mutual friend, we ran into each other again and started dating. We were engaged for 10 months before marrying in a fairly large wedding ceremony. Thomas is black, and I am white. I had never dated or been interested in anyone of another race before, and bi-racial relationships certainly weren't smiled upon where I was from at that time. But Thomas is very special. He won me with his big smile and big heart, and this essential "goodness" that just seems to flow out of him. Since we married I have worked in basically accounting and management positions for different companies, mostrecently a large insurance company.
Our son, Andrew, was born 2 years into our marriage. When the doctor said, "It's a boy!" Thomas said, "Well, I've got myself a fishing partner." My doctor said, "Well, not for a while, yet." Little did she know! He was holding a fishing pole at 6 months. At 17 now Andrew is a fairly typical teenager, into video games, music and playing keyboard. He's a good kid, with a good heart, and when the parents of his friends tell me how much they enjoy having him around, it makes me very proud. He's studying computer programming right now and hopefully will go into that field.
Our daughter, Eler Beth, was born six years after Andrew. When I told Andrew I was going to have a baby, he said, "Does Dad know? Can I tell him?" Of course, I'd already told Thomas, but I let Andrew tell him again. Then the day I got the ultrasound results and found out it would be a girl, I told Andrew first and gave him one of the ultrasound pictures to show his dad. He said, "Hey, Dad, do you know who this is?" Thomas said, "No, who is that?" Andrew said, "It's my baby sister, Eler Beth." And Thomas looked up quickly at me and said, "Really?" He so much wanted a little girl! Boy, did he get it! She is a joy to us! At ten years old, she is a smart little whirlwind of a girl. She loves doing everything! She can go from gardening, rock and fossil hunting, fishing and hunting, to getting her nails and hair done and taking me to the mall for a girls-only day! I don't know what she'll settle on as a career when she's an adult, but I do know that she'll put her all into it and succeed.
I am a stay-at-home Mom right now, and hopefully can stay that way for a while. Thomas recently changed jobs to make it possible for me to stay home. I love to read, and usually have more than one book going at a time, because I like to have a light novel going as well as something a little heavier; or I may be researching something, requiring a lot of heavier reading. I do a bit of writing as well. I have a pretty eclectic taste in music and used to play and sing with my sisters and brother on a regular basis. Both my kids are musically inclined as well. I have a lot of quirks and compulsions that sometimes get in the way of enjoying things in a simpler way; yes, I can be fanatical at times about organization and doing things a certain way, but I've been better lately about just letting things slide when they need to.
I started journaling in March of '05, and it is one of the joys in my life. I'm not really sure why, but I love being a part of the J-land community, and really appreciate the "friendships" I've found here online. This has been a long entry, and if you've stuck with it to the end, I thank you very much. I guess this has been more of a "history" than an introduction, Martha, but, as my mother would say, "here it is, such as it is."
I look forward to doing the second week's Up Close and Personal. 'Bye for now!
Edited: My apologies to Kellen. Kellen is a very talented and intelligent 17-year old young MAN, and I incorrectly referred to him as a "she". I am so sorry!! I have corrected the pronouns in the entry below. Please hop over to his site and check out the last tournament; plan to participate in the next one if you can.
I, like everyone else it seems lately, have been having trouble keeping up with alerts. So I've changed how I keep up with everyone's journals.