ABC WEDNESDAY -- JULY 23

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B is for...

MY BOYS

I promise I won't make these posts just a litany of relatives.  But I did say I would use ideas of things that mean a lot to me and I couldn't pass the letter "B" without reference to my sons, commonly referred to as "the boys".

Never did I ever dream that I would end up being the mother of two boys (now in their 40's).  First

of all I didn't think I would ever get married -- it was too risky, I figured.  Then I had decided in my teens I didn't want children -- not sure why.  Probably thought that was too risky also.  All part of my defenses I think, to not do anything I couldn't succeed at.  Not sure where that came from either.

Well my husband changed all that and now here I am, married for almost 55 years with two sons whom I love dearly and of whom I am so proud.  Raising kids as teens in Southern California when drugs were as plentiful as candy during the 70's and 80's, was no picnic but having made the first two decisions, (and now being a committed Christian, with a loving husband, so I wasn't alone),  I wasn't about to give up.  

Do you remember the movie "Chariots of Fire"?  And do you remember one of the characters in the movie who was an Olympic runner saying to his girlfriend, "I won't run if I can't win"?  She replied, "Well you won't win if you don't run."  

That clip certainly made me think.  I never thought I was good enough at anything.  A definite perfectionist.  Never good enough for myself.  So if I was going to be a mother -- and a wife -- I was going to be a GOOD one.  Our high school principal had one motto which she used frequently:  "Standards, girls, standards!"  I guess that seven years of that drilled into me definitely 'took'.  But I don't regret it.  Just wish I'd cut myself some slack once in a while.

So here they are, as loved as much as any mother's sons could be:

    SON #1

SON#2

Then of course there's my other 'boy' who did all his part and much, much more:

...wearing his lei from the Islands of Micronesia...

...and yet another 'boy' doing what he does a lot of:

He has taken to lying on his favorite toy, just in case someone will play with him.

Thanks to the ABC team who work hard at keeping this project going, now in its 15th round.  Please click HERE to see all the other enterprising entries.  I promise you will learn something new.

P.S.  FOR AN ABSOLUTE THRILL ON THIS TOPIC PLEASE ALSO VISIT  HERE.   I promise you won't be disappointed.