The Rest of the Crew

Well, I am going to try to FINALLY finish describing the members of this family. If you continue on down the line in the photo, you will find David. David is the "middle child"...well, the middle boy, but any way you look at it, he is definitely a middle child. David was born 18 months after Justin. While Justin came into this world as a quite docile child, David could not be more opposite. Born at barely over 5 pounds, David may have been a tiny thing, but his personality was HUGE! David came into this world with perpetual motion; he was and has always been full of energy. I think David cried for the first 2 years of his life, actually. Full of mischief and extremely active, David became an athlete very early in life. This was a great way to expend some of his energy...and he was good at everything he attempted. One would think that someone like that could not be successful at both sports and academic, but David was. Playing high school football and baseball, David finished up in the top 10% of his graduating class. He then went on the play college football and baseball and graduated from college Suma Cum Laude with a degree in biology and minor in chemistry. He has now completed his second year of medical school and is about to head off to do his rotations. Having said all of this, you must know that this child is not perfect. I know that most parents think that their child are flawless (deep down, they know this is not the case!), however, my children have always kept me in the realm of reality by doing things that reminded me they were indeed...NOT perfect. My husband, Robby, has always said that David is a clone of me...without a penis! I do have to admit that we are very much alike. We often times tend to be our own worst enemy. That is not to say that we are uncaring, but our mouths get us into trouble quite a bit. Honest to a fault...we don't "look before we leap"! And being honest, I must say that temper -wise, we can go from 0 to 100 in about a second. We are very passionate about everything we do. We don't like people telling us what to do or really even how to do it...we're kind of rebels ...ok, we are rebels. But, all of this being said, David is a very caring person and I believe that all of these qualities that make him so unique will make him a great doctor. Now, on to the next person...this is Codi. Codi is David's fiance'. Advice for her??? Hang on for the ride! David and Codi have been engaged for 2 years now and the upcoming nuptuals are July 10th. They decided to let David get through with his 2 years of medical school classroom work before they tied the knot. Codi is a very sweet girl, but the total opposite of David. Where David is the "jock" and really doesn't care much about where he lives or what he wears, Codi is a "fashionista". She is a beautiful girl with a very good sense of style (a girl after my own heart), however, this also makes her a little "high maintenance". Believe me, this is not an insult to her...she will admit this herself! The girl DOES like to shop...and not bargain shop. Where David is very social, loud and boisterous at times, Codi is quiet and reserved. That is not to say she is an unopinionated mouse; just quiet. Over the past 2 years, however, Codi has earned her place in the family by taking on the job as my mother's (Mam-Maw) driver...you know, kind of like "Driving Miss Daisy". And believe me, this is quite a job. My mother is 82 years old and a few years back, when told (unfortunately by me) that she could no longer drive, I was faced with the dilema of finding her a driver. At that time, David was home for the summer and drove her around the grocery store, doctor's appointments and basically anywhere she needed to go. When he got ready to head off to medical school, he suggested that Codi might like the job. Hmmm...like? Well, of course, this all had to be OK'd by Mam-Maw because, after all, one can never presume that Mam-Maw will agree to something. But, Mam-Maw had gotten to know Codi and was happy to welcome Codi as her new driver. I have to say, that the girl has made an impression on everyone...family, doctors, etc. She drives Mam-Maw around to her appointments, manages her bills, takes her shopping and most times even eats out with her. She is a very patient person and does not rush Mam-Maw; allows her to move at her own pace. Yes, she has earned her spot in this family, indeed. Now, I'm not sure she knows all that this entails; being a part of this family. We are loud, opinionated and quite frankly can be a little intimidating to others at times. But, she will (and is) learning very quickly that to be a part of this crazy bunch of people, you must just jump in and become a fighter, because the weak will become devoured. No one is exempt from our "complete honesty policy"! But, I think that is one of the things that makes us so unique...we communicate. Even if it is something we do not want to hear, we talk about it and face it head on. That's just who we are.