Life in the Middle Age Lane

John is my better half.  Plain and simple.  He says that he married up and that always makes me smile. Because the truth of the matter is that John makes me want to work at being a better person.  Better daughter, mother, and wife.  He is truly the most humble, intelligent, selfless person I have met.  He has been a true father to our kids and as time goes by now a huge support system for his dad who has Parkinson's.  He has been cub master, do-dad (girl scout dad), chaperone for school trips, dances with his daughter, and so many other things that are too numerous to mention. I'm so proud of the father he is and more than anything for the role model the kids have.  Emilio and Shelby love him to pieces and have such a high regard for his "words of wisdom".  It's so beautiful to see a hands on dad.  (I won't go into it, but I grew up without a father, and never saw first hand the love of a dad.) 1995 John looked like he gave birth, he...

On Thursday, March 8th my father in law turned 70 years old.  He has battled Parkinson's for over 25 years.  It was determined that Parkinson's was a result of his tour in Vietnam in the 1960's.  About two years ago we had to uproot him from  his home in Lake Charles, LA and place him in an assisted living facility near us.  Bless his heart, he didn't like it much but knew that he could not continue living alone in a city so far away from his sons.  He needed someone to look after him and his affairs.  My father in law is not a complainer and always seems to see the brighter side of things.  He has battled a debilitating disease for so many years and is still able to keep his smile and joking manner about him. With his birthday quickly approaching and no new friends in Houston I could not let it pass by without some type of celebration.  I quickly emailed some favorite neighbors and asked that they please come and celebrate John's dad's 70t...