A FATHERS DAY GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

I do not want you to miss THIS POST as it is OUR STORY.
It may seem that I have already written a FATHER'S DAY post here. If you have not read the post about Micah and his Dad, it was the one post I have had the most response to since I began blogging. REMEMBER ALL COMMENTS THIS WEEK GO IN THE DRAWING FOR THIS.
But I need to share this new post in order for you to have time to purchase it for some man in your life. I say man but I don't know any MOM that has ever been able to put it down. It is one of those books that you start and cannot put down and before you know it you have read the entire book in one sitting. This is the story of a MAN and his BOY.
It looks like the book is very close to being made into a movie. I am not selling books and my only interest here is just to give you a GREAT gift for some man in your life. I cannot think of a better gift at Father's Day. Regardless the ages of your dad, father, brother, friend, this book is a WONDERFUL READ!
Now I need to give you a little history. I have known this family for many years. Our kids went to a small private Christian school and it just so happens that Pittman and Powell are close together, so Amanda was normally sitting next to COLE. Anyone that reads my blog knows I LOVE football. Cole Pittman did too and he was GOOD. Real good. I don't want to tell you too much about him, though I could, but it will be much better told by his Dad in the book. Cole was one of those kids that was always polite, always willing to talk football with me and a kid that I could not wait to follow not only his college career, but there was no doubt there was a pro career in his future. After high school Cole headed to Austin to play for the Longhorns. I am going to leave the story here, so you can read the rest in the book. It is NOT just a football book, it is a LIFE BOOK!
On a Monday afternoon, February 26, 2001 I was watching TV and ironing and my phone rang.

It was Amanda and all she said was Mom "Cole is dead"! Some things you just never forget. The next few days were a blur. I remember Coach Mack Brown and the Longhorn football team flying to Shreveport for the funeral. I remember at the burial, them turning to leave and then turning back and facing Cole's family and spontaneously singing "The Eyes of Texas"! The real story I want you to read in his Dad's words. This is so much more than a football story. This is a story of love, love wars to be exact.

Below is Marc Pittman, Cole's Dad! This was a father and son that were BEYOND CLOSE. Marc began to write and those writings became a book. He actually shared the manuscript with me early on and I can still remember reading it on a plane while flying to California on vacation. I knew it was a book EVERY PARENT needed to read.
You can read more about the book and even order it HERE at Raising Cole. There are some excerpts from the book along with some reviews. Marc has spoken all over the country sharing the book. He is as captivating as a speaker as he is as a writer. But MOST OF ALL he is a MAN that loved his SON.

YOU DID IT !

I may lose readers after this post as it will sound like a similar post, a bragging post (please indulge me as I am recording our life)! It is both of those, BUT more than that its an ANSWERED PRAYER post. And just maybe it will encourage someone out there that needs to hear from a Mom that eleven year ago found out her beautiful senior in high school cheerleader daughter was pregnant. That was not my plan. That was not her plan. Life happens. You can read Amanda and Parker's story here and here. We were never upset, but we had not had a baby in our house in 18 years, so there were definitely questions of CAN WE DO THIS?

This was a FAMILY AFFAIR and from day one we were DETERMINED that we would support Amanda in every way, fill in every gap, every space, and as a FAMILY we could do it. Our village was secure. Please do not think we never had any obstacles, some hard, some expensive, but we were a TEAM and we had Amanda's back at every turn. Our son got UNCLE down immediately and wow did he ever do it right. He loves that little boy like his own. I would say there are few friendships stronger than that of my husband and Parker. The bond between them is one you could see a mile away. Pop and Parker are TIGHT.

Was it always easy? NO!

Did we do everything perfect? NO! Amanda was always the Mom and always allowed us to be the grandparents. She would probably tell you that there were times I moved out of those boundaries. I never wanted to, but I fell so madly in love with this child that protecting him was my mission in life. I would take on a bear or any person that caused Amanda's life to be harder. He became the grandchild of all my friends. He became the most loved little baby boy to all of Amanda's friends. This boy had a FAN CLUB. For the first five and half years of Parker's life they lived with us. From the moment Amanda gave birth she was MOM and a GOOD ONE. She was one of those that it just came naturally to. But that's not the point of this post. I could tell you Parker is smart. He is! Extremely....and a lot of that comes from travel and being exposed to a lot of different situations,spending lots of time with adults learning to interact with people of all ages and today he proved my theory that going to school every day is not a necessity. (If you are a teacher please don't email me. That has always been my theory and I am pretty sure it will never change)! Travel is education to me, even if it's to see the MOUSE.

Parker turns 11 next week. That in itself blows my mind. Amanda got a call at work today from his teacher to tell her not only did he score the best (and I am not even going to say what because I would really be bragging)on whatever the BIG tests they have just taken. You can tell school is not my thing as I cannot even think what they are called. I just know they are very important every year and he does not need to miss school on those days, eat a good breakfast and go to bed early the night before. Amanda makes sure all that happens.

BUT THIS IS THE PRIZE. She told her what a privilege it had been to be Parker's teacher and that she wished she had 20 PARKER'S! That one statement makes me cry. She went on to tell her how he made new kids feel welcome, how polite he was, how he was kind to kids that were maybe not so popular, and that he was a JOY to have in her classroom. This GRAMMY is PROUD! When I hung up I thought, "Baby you did it! YOU raised a little boy to be a GREAT TWEEN, that a teacher wishes she had 20 of. You will never find two parents that are more PROUD of their GIRL. I am not naive enough to think she will not have more hurdles to cross as he becomes a teenager. BUT tonight I CELEBRATE her, all those days she pressed on, all those nights she stayed home when her friends were out on the town, all those times she was a single parent trying to stay on a budget. Today she is happily married to a wonderful man who adores her and they have 2 year old JACK! Micah is a wonderful step-father and he and Parker really love each other. From the day Parker was born my prayer was that she would fall in love with someone that loved Parker as much as he loved Amanda. Seven years later she did! Answered prayer...and today was icing on the cake...

Today was a long day...I know many of you commented on my post last night about my friends first granddaughter arriving today. It was a very long day, 12 long hours of labor and pushing and the baby would never get in the right position, so at 6:30 tonight they had to do a C-section and 8 and half pound Elizabeth is finally here safe and sound. So after a lot of dental work and then sitting in a hospital chair for 10 hours, I came home TIRED to the bone....Then I got Amanda's call telling me about the call she had received from Parker's teacher! A perfect ending to the DAY. I can never remember feeling SO PROUD! Not only a JOY to his teacher, but the BEST BIG BROTHER EVER. It is 2 AM and my husband just came in from a trip. I just told him about his little man and the phone call. He and his Pop go to breakfast together everyday so I am sure there will be a celebration breakfast. We can hardly wait to get up tomorrow and BLESS HIM. We have sat here and talked about how our lives changed the day he was born. The day we became grandparents! Tonight we go to bed feeling BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE.

THIS PICTURE SHOUTS LOVE TO ME!

I can't even apologize for this post. I promise to tell you next time he has an attitude or pouts or anything that he does that's not allowed, but it may be a post you wait a long time for. He is all BOY and not perfect but tonight I am feeling like he is pretty close. And I am so glad God chose me to be his GRAMMY.

Remember all comments this week go in the Disney drawing.

Thanks for indulging me.

MISCELLANY MONDAY

I love randoms! TOTALLY love them....That is how I THINK. Stop by Carissa's at lowercase letters by carissa graham. She has tons of sites that are part of the "miscellany monday" ! Go check it out and link up too! It's always fun to be a part of a little blog party. Be SURE and comment on this post and you are automatically entered in the DISNEY GIVEAWAY from the last post. That's all you have to do. No hoops to jump through... Who knows, maybe there will be TWOor THREE! SO for a little random.....IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A GREAT FATHERS DAY GIFT, VERY INEXPENSIVE BUT A TREASURE, I will be posting about one in the next few days, so you will have plenty of time to order. Parker is having his birthday party a week early since we are traveling, and it is going to be the MOST FUN SLEEP OVER. Amanda and Micah have put so much work into it and may need to go into PARTY PLANNING. Plus he got an early present, an IPOD TOUCH and he is on CLOUD NINE. He will be on CLOUD TEN if I get him an ITUNES gift card and I will. That's what Grammy's do.Tomorrow one of my dearest friends is going to MEET her first grandchild. Sweet Elizabeth should arrive sometime tomorrow....induction in the morning and I am going to spend the day at the hospital with her. It has been a hard nine months in a million ways, but because I walked a somewhat similar/though very different road, 11 years ago, I have been able to take her hand and walk with her on this JOURNEY. It has been my PRIVILEGE!I am still walking...just wish I was seeing a few pounds drop off. I SO WISH that someone would INVENT a BATHING SUIT that MADE everyone look at least OK. Also, wish I did not have to search it out, that it just arrived in the MAIL!Yesterday I TOTALLY redid the boys room. I believe in the littles having their OWN room at our house. Jack had began to climb out of his crib, so we bought them TRUNDLE BEDS...Will make some pictures and show as soon as I get a new RUG down. And I will warn you, it is MICKEY PARADISE.I really want CRYSTAL to win AMERICAN IDOL, in case you cared. Remember this is random.I added this to my other blog, but want to add it here...Please check out this blog and BE INSPIRED. I don't know about you, but I LOVE TO FIND a NEW BLOG. ONE that I want to go back and read their entire story.My BOY and his family are going to spend a week at the beach next week. They may not be able to do much "beaching" but I am hoping they get some good R & R. This has been a TOUGH year to run a Toyota dealership.I so want to be able to SKYPE while we are on the cruise...ANY tips or instructions? Have I ever told you I HATE to READ INSTRUCTIONS? HOW MUCH RANDOM CAN a PERSON TAKE? If you were a winner recently, I got everything shipped today with the exception of one thing and I hope to ship it tomorrow. Be sure and check out my newest fanily member in this post. He is the CUTEST!