7 Things Meme

Like Kathy Cassidy, I have not been officially tagged for this meme but I didn’t want Kathy to be all alone in breaking the box.

1. Growing up, my family was poor, dysfunctional and on the outside of the community. My father was seriously hurt when I was 6 suffering many injuries, including a head injury which eventually isolated us from the community and, eventually, the family around us. My father was severely affected by the injuries and developed as serious addiction to pain medications and other things which caused him to be violent at times. My sister, a year younger than me, was raped at age 15 by the father of one of my highschool friends (a girl) on a night that I refused to wait around and give her a ride home. This ripped our town apart . Through school, my nickname was welfare and I had to defend myself quite alot. I had great friends and am indepted to them for getting me through highschool.

2. I delivered my 4th daughter as the nurse was on the phone trying to get ahold of the doctor.  I caught her (they’re slippery little things) and wrapped her up, cleaned out her mouth and all those things. We have 7 children and we are expecting our 8th in April. I didn’t really want children before I met my wife and did not expect to have 8. Go figure!

3. I am in education because …. I didn’t want to spend another 5 years in law getting my degree. I was accepted and ready to go but went to education instead since my now wife was going to be an educator and I figured I could do that too!

4. I owned and ran my own painting company for 5 years and have spent a good part of my summers doing painting of some sort.

5. Since being married, my wife and I have moved over 20 times, sometimes 3 or 4 times in the same city/town and I have renovated our last 4 houses, almost redoing them from the ground up.

6. I was told I would never amount to anything by one of my highschool teachers and, because of my family situation, was written off by many. It has fueled me to do what I can for kids and point out that no matter where you are or what your life is like, you can do great things. It has helped me get three university degrees and continue to learn and seek new ideas, meet new people, travel and be open to all sorts of changes.  

7. My faith is the center of who I am. I have witnessed miracles and am a firm believer in guardian angels.

I’m not going to tag anyone but, like Kathy, if you want to share, this is your invitation.

7 Comments

  1. Reply

    This leaves me with so many questions. I want to hear about your guardian angels and the miracles you’ve seen. I want to know the ages of your children and how you do everything you do. Great post and way to go. You’re obviously a survivor!

  2. Reply

    Gritty and stark! Your life has infused your educational philosophy with a backbone that gives teaching a true purpose: survival in the real world, self-reliance, and overcoming adversity. These are lessons that can be modeled best by teachers who haven’t led a sugar-coated life on Easy Street but by those who have been squeezed, torn, and bruised by life and nonetheless emerged as winners and survivors. Thanks for your inspirational post!

  3. Reply

    Kelly,
    I’ve taken a break from my RSS for a bit, and so lost touch with you. What a great post to come back to… To remind me of why I like your blog. You share so much and you are always an educator with a lesson to teach us.
    Thank you for sharing!
    Dave.

  4. Pingback: 7 things meme « Living on the Lip of Insanity

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