Taylor Sue

I remember my sisters telling me how wonderful it is to be a grandparent. You could see such happiness in them, their faces actually seemed to light up. I became a grandmother when my youngest son had a little girl. I remember driving to the hospital in downpouring rain, so hard it was difficult to see the road. Then Taylor Sue arrived, what a bundle of joy.

Josh and Shelley lived with us as Josh was in the marines and was heading back to CA for more training. Taylor had some difficulties for the first few months, but after a specialiast found that she could not break down her mom's breast milk, put her on a special formula for her problem, she started thriving.

When Josh graduated from Boot Camp, our family flew to San Diego for the graduation and a wedding for Josh and Shell in the Chapel on base. We stayed in a timeshare in Tiujana which was a story in itself. Wandering through the markets was an experience also. Our family will have many memories of that trip. Finally on the day before we headed back to Iowa we were allowed on base to see Josh graduate and have the wedding ceremony. He was able to go back to the resort with us for one night in Tiujana.We became very close to Tay in the year they lived with us.

While Josh was in CA we had a large picture of him that Taylor would crawl to and touch when we asked her "Where's Daddy?" Steve (my hubby), and Abby (my youngest) loved having Shelley and Taylor there while Joshua was miles away in training. When he finally came home for a short visit, it was wonderful watching Taylor's eyes when Joshua walked in! He was home for a short while, then down to MO for more training. Now Shelley was able to drive down on weekends and she and Tay would spend time with Josh.

When Josh finished his training, he had a few days at home with us which was wonderful. Then off to Camp LaJune they went, taking Tay with, and I grieved quite a while for that little girl. It was great having them finally in a home of their own, but hard as they were so many miles away. I will say Shelley was wonderful with sending us letters and pics, and occasionally we'd receive a letter from Josh.

We spent a week in a timeshare not far from their home and they came and stayed with us there. It was good to see our little family again! Time moves forward and Taylor is now nine years old and they are living about 15 minutes away. More about Taylor later. In the meantime we now have seven grandchildren who deserve stories of their own (including Taylor's little brother)! See ya later! halfmoon