One Last Birthday for March - Faithful Fridays With Joy

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March is one of our family's busiest months for birthdays. Today is Sonja's birthday. I cannot believe she is 39 years old... it seems like only yesterday that I gave birth to her.

Sonja doesn't want me posting pictures of her, so I will respect her wishes.
Sonja is the oldest of our two children.

Sonja was quick to learn to talk. She had a wide vocabulary by time she was one year old. She writes wonderful stories and poems. She always made good grades in school and took honor classes.

She is a great fisherwoman, but hates to eat fish. When she was little she used to love to eat fish. When we went into Burger King she would order a fish sandwich... never a hamburger. Then for some reason she not only decided she hated fish, but her brother did too. Many of her dates with one of her boyfriend in high school was fishing at Lake Chesdin.

When she was about five years old she loved to draw on her wall. I finally got her to draw on paper bags. One time she drew a tarantula. Frank was in his 'I cannot stand spider stage' and didn't appreciate that drawing hanging on the fridge. There was a year or so that she refused to wear any color but purple. Good thing I liked purple :-)

Sonja has a compassion for children and those that have the mind of a child. She has a love for the elderly too. Sonja is a 'people person'. She has her shy moments though. Sonja is a lover of animals and has two Boston Terriers, Otis and Stella. She used to have three (the offspring of the other two), but Lucy became sick and died.

Sonja and I have butted heads over the years, especially in her teen years... which I guess has happened with many other mothers and their children. We have had good times together too. We had fun hiking on trails... one time having a foot race on a trail. We worked on many school and church projects together that were fun.

We worked together for a while at the Family Dollar Store I worked at in Virginia. The manager of the store was having the same problem I had when I moved down here (see Color - My Employment) of not finding good employees. Both my children worked with me for a while. The district manager said that was too much family in one store, so Sonja was transferred to one of the stores in Richmond. The district manager always praised to me of Sonja's work ethic. Of course that made me proud of her.

When we moved from Virginia to Georgia Sonja stayed in the Richmond area where she worked at a respite camp. Later on she moved to Sharon Pennsylvania where she worked as a nurse's aide in a nursing home. Then she made the decision to move to the Albany Georgia area. She worked in a couple of different nursing homes here and just finally burned out. Then she moved to the Canton / Woodstock Georgia area where she worked in a veterinarian's office for a while... again she burned out. She just becomes too involved with her patients.. whether human or dog or cat.

Sonja still cannot find a job. The economy just seems to get worse and worse here in Georgia. Not too many days go by that you don't hear of a store or a plant closing.

Sonja was a wonderful child for the most part ;-) and she is a wonderful woman. Happy Birthday Sonja!

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Please join me and others for Faithful Fridays With Joy. Just click on the button below to go to Joy's (Doodlebug) post.

My prayers have been answered many times while I have raised my daughter. Being a mother does not end when your child leaves home. There is still guidance needed. There are still times to console. I pray often to have the right words to say to my daughter and do the right things for her. HE has walked beside me every step of the way and sometimes has carried me through rough times. I will admit that there have been times that I have ignored HIM and made mistakes. You would think after the first time of not listening that I would learn... but I am still a child of God and like a child I sometimes make the same mistakes over and over. I am forgiven each time by my Heavenly Father for my mistakes. I am not always as forgiving with my own daughter.

I am thankful that I was entrusted with such a great soul as my daughter to raise and to love.

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Of all the haunting moments of motherhood, few rank with hearing your own words come out of your daughter's mouth. -- Victoria Secunda