365 Days of Impacts

(March 31st Post) March 31st is one day that will go down in history for me as one of the most magical days of my life. This is the day in 2002 that my cousin, (nephew) and godson John Andrew Poteete was born. I was lucky enough to be invited by his mother Mandi to witness his birth along with her, Katie Murphy and Kent. This was the most amazing thing I have ever been able to witness, and to this day I cherish this memory. Partly because I myself never had a child, so it was amazing to bear witness to this. I will never forget sleeping on the floor in between her contractions, and not understanding that a baby's head comes out first - I was afraid to say anyting because I didn't understand what was going on and did not want to alarm anyone by asking questions. Until half his head was out, I did not realize this. Plus, he was bluish until he came out (duh) because babies don't get oxygen until they are out. Drew was so pink when he came out! This entire experience was a ...

In middle school, my first cousin Kent came to live with us temporarily.  I was in 6th grade.  Kent came from Washington DC, was taken away from his friends and made to live with us in Charter Oaks.  He lived in our basement.  If you have ever been to Charter Oaks, you know the basement was not huge, but it was his domain.  Thank goodness he had his own space.   I was fascinated by Kent.  One of his chores was to take the garbage out to the dumpster.  He would use this as an excuse to light up and smoke cigarettes as he walked down the front of all the townhouses, and then make a 90 degree angle cut over to the dumpsters.  He would stay down there until he was almost done with the butt and then come back to the house.  I used to watch him out the window in my room on the second floor in the front of the house. I had not known Kent before this, from nothing more than holiday visits.  He was the polar opposite of Christy and I - we fo...

In the half century that I've been alive, I have only been to two funerals that had over 100 people there. Big Ken's funeral was one of them. His grandkids called him Grandy. He certainly was a grand man - standing 6'4" he was a big man but gentle by nature. He was quiet, not a big talker, but when he did talk, it was insightful, and ususally made YOU think, sometimes for hours after you had spoken with him. I called him Uncle, but he was really my cousin by marriage. He touched the lives of so many people - and it was amazing to see just how many in the church that day we were all paying our respects. Words that describe Big Ken are humble, honorable, devoted to God, teacher, coach, mentor - the example he set is hard to emulate, but I try daily. Big Ken made you think about your life choices and why you were making them. He would offer advice, but it was never judgemental. Big Ken was an icon who made a big impression on my life.   He loved his garden too! ...