Dear 16 Year Old Me

Hi my friends,

I was watching television the other morning and saw a very interesting segment on a morning show. A author wrote a book on people from different walks of life writing letters to their 16 year old selves. I thought what would I say to me back then? well, here is the letter to my 16 year old self.

Dear 16 year old me,

I know you probably had another rough day at school because you are still adjusting to being in High School and you are still not happy with being in Greenville Mississippi and you want to go back home to San Francisco, and your home life is not all that great either with your aunt and uncle being mean to you all the time and your mom getting on your nerves but believe me, things will get better. You thing your Grandparents are telling you things you don't want to know but listen to them, they may not have the education you have and will have in the future, but they really are very wise and hold on to them while you can because you will miss them when the are gone. Don't worry about your aunt, she always has been jealous of you and your uncle will straighten out and become a very wise and awesome man of God. They love you, they just had a hard time showing it at the time. Your mom was going through a hard time herself adjusting to being home and living with her parents. She will still struggle with the things she struggled with then but remember, she loves you very much and you always were her heart just like your Aunt Minnie would tell you. When you get the news that your mom passed away, you will struggle with it but in time, it will get better. Your Dad will still be you best friend and someone you will still go to. He will have a series of strokes but he will get better but, not the same as he was before, Your paternal grandmother will suddenly pass away when you get home from college, no not the colleges you wanted to go to Southern Cal, LSU, or the University of San Francisco but USM. You will miss her very much because you could talk to her about anything. Before she dies, she will give you a life lesson that you will hold on to this very day.  You will go to the Navy briefly, don't feel bad about not completing basic training. You tried but your fear of water over your head from almost drowning at 8 keeps you from completing. You go to college and meet people you are still friends with to this very day, You will  have jobs as a club dj. radio announcer and even do play-by-play for baseball and football!  You even become part owner a baseball team all in Greenville! You will work for WXVT as a Weather Person, Master Control Operator and do other things at the television station. There, you will met and become friends with some amazing people you are still friends with to this day. You will go to different places such as Houston, Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans, Little Rock and Conway Arkansas.  You will get married twice, have 6 beautiful and amazing kids, 5 girls and 1 boy. two girls from your first marriage and three girls and one boy from you second. Your second wife is the one that you are meant to be with and you two have everything in common. She will be and always will be the love of your life. Take care of yourself and keep exercising because when you get older, you will become very ill and disabled but it all takes you back to the amazing path that God puts you on. You will go through some bad things but you will go through some awesome things as well. You finally answer the call that God has been for years trying to get you to to. You will continue your education to get your Masters in Christian Studies. Oh by the way, you don't have cat eyes like Terrence Nash keeps telling you! Ignore him!

Take care,

Raymomd

In The Beginning

Where do I begin? Well I'll start with the day this crazy, scary and now beautiful journey began. It was a sunny March day of this year. It began like any other day, I went to work early that morning, did my job and said goodbye to my co-workers. I was on my way to pick up my contacts when I noticed my vision was blurring. I  refused to think that something was seriously wrong so I was careful driving to and from the eye doctor's office. I didn't tell anybody at the eye doctor's office what was going on because my doctor was not in that day. I came home feeling dizzy, had a very intense headache and was nauseous. I told my wife what was going on and she drove me to the emergency room. After they ran tests, they told me I had a stroke. I was shocked and naturally scared. I was admitted into the hospital overnight for observation. I came home and a few days later progressively got worse. My balance was worse, my speech was more slurred, I began dragging my left foot and was more week and my headache continued. My wife drove me to Jackson to another hospital and they ran tests and told us I never had a stroke. We were shocked! They set up an appointment for me to see a Neurosurgeon. We went to his office, he talked to us and showed us the MRI and said there was no evidence I had a stroke but there was something going on. He admitted me into the hospital. After four days of a battery of tests, the diagnosis was Polyneuropathy. It is a neurological disorder from being a long time diabetic. He told us that I may never recover from this and I am not going to be able to work. He told me that he could try to fix me up again but it may not be for the long term. We came back to Greenville and I was very depressed. I was angry because I tried to eat right, I exercised everyday, took my medicines and watched my blood sugar to make sure it was not high. My wife and I one Sunday drove to my cousin's church to hear him. He is the pastor of the church. We liked the message he was delivering and the following Sunday, we went back. We eventually joined the church and I felt renewed. I felt that God had a path for me to follow, I just did not or didn't want to know what it was but I was heading in the right direction. In this blog, I intend to tell you how I am and will be fighting back. I invite you to join me on my climb back up this mountain.