Way back when, I think the community was closer than what we are now. It’s still close, but there was more respect at that time. I guess we put money first, before anything else.

A few weeks after everything, she did call me and asked me if I could come to her house. She was sitting in the bedroom of her son. The way he left it is the way she left it.

When our youngest daughter was five years old, she went to kindergarten in the community. We were told that one of the children in her class had an accident on the weekend, where the milk truck ran over her classmate. Here we go again, right?

Growing up, I always had dolls to play with, and I used to have dreams about having my own children. Bringing them around the kitchen table and making sure the table was always full. When we had our five children, I was a stay-at-home mom.

I had a brother. Thirteen years born after me, but he was stillborn. I had a brother for not even an hour.

After I graduated high school, I worked a year, then got married and had babies. I had three babies in a row. It was challenging at times, but I can’t imagine life without them.