Life is funny! They say don't burn bridges because you may have to cross them again!

The last time I was on the "Hill" I was a student and it did not end well. I entered Alabama A&M the fall of '97 and was booted a couple of years later. Not because of partying, mainly because I did not plan which caused my demise. You see when I entered school I had a full scholorship majoring in Forestry.  Yea I know, it sounds crazy, but it was an offer i couldnt refuse... until my first semester was up. When plans of fighting fires for the summer in the middle of nowhere was presented to me, I knew had to get the h-e-double hockey sticks out there. But where was I going to go, I had no idea. So the summer before my second year I worked 6 days a week 12 hour shifts the whole summer at local plant to pay for school. That was a bad idea, I wore myself out and when school began I was burnt out and didnt want to be there. I was grown but didn't handle it like a grown person so instead of just dropping out I flunked out because of missed classes and failed tests. I dug myself a whole too deep. I tried to get back on track but my heart was not it. As much as I liked A&M it wasn't the school for me. I tried my hardest to stay but ultimately I was placed on presidential suspension and never returned. 

That is until this week. Nearly twenty years later, I had a meeting with the President and other officals from the school. It was  an offical visit as now they are one my many facilites I am responsible for.  It was weird though I can't lie! To leave the way I left and return with a little authority, it is a reminder that you must keep pressing no matter how many times you fall. I fell, but my comeback is looking mighty strong!

So I missed last weeks deadline. A huge photoshoot with Dokk Savage and then a 3 day TDY killed your boy. It was nice to return home to the wife and kids. My oldest has picked up the habit of reading to his little brothers. Its cool, even though the words aren't from the book, his imagination is wild. I can't kill his creativity, instead I nurture it. So instead of writing a long blog I will let the picture tell the story. 

So this week post is dedicated to Dan-Dan, my son, the middle child

4 years ago he entered my life and boy it has been great and challenging to say the least (in a good way) over these 4 years. 

I recall when his mom broke the news to me that she was expecting Daniel. She was nervous and afraid because our oldest at the time was only 6 months and Lord knows we were not ready for another baby. So she waited a couple of weeks and broke the news so lo-key ( she left a pregnancy test in the bathroom in place that was line of sight). So after we got through the tears of sadness, shock, and happiness we prepared for the arrival. The pregnancy was rough as Daniel was larger and more active then his older brother. We made it to the end and decided to have him early because his due date was February 29, no way were we having a leap year baby, and he was measuring big. So we planned to have him induced on the February 16, but unfortunately my wife's grandma passed away after battling illness. My mother-in-law said one of the last messages was that she was trying to hold to see her-gran. She delayed the delivery until after the funeral. We celebrated her life one day and two days later we welcomed life. If you have encountered my son you know he likes to do things on his time. He will test your patience something that I thought I had a lot of but dealing with him showed otherwise. I have had to change my parenting skills a lot. I have to meet him where is at to guide him. Things that work with one child does not work with the other and as a parent you have to find the ways to motivate your kids. It's not a one-size fits all situation. 

Prepping the kids for valentines is funny!

i think they are too young to grasp the meaning behind the day but you never know, kids know so much now days!

As I think about it V-day was probably the worst day for me. Seeing that I didnt have the nerves to approach anyone, vday was the one day that vocalize through a card. I would pick  that one special card out of the 50 card box, you know the one with your favorite superhero on the front, to give to the girl I liked the most. The hope was that the message she read was so special that she we would have to ask me out. Cause I wasn't going to do it. Needless to say that act was never successful. Now that I think about it I never had a valentine's before I turned 19. Hopefully my boys will be more outgoing than I, but If they end up like there old man thats fine. I made it out fine. I do have one memborable V-day that was when I shocked there mom back in her college days at TSU. I showed up at her dorm unannouced and we didnt do anything big, we just hung out ate some pizza and then I got sick. So what so great about that ... it was my first real v-day. Also If you experienced the college life or just been broke period you know the most memborable times are those that didnt require alot of money. 

Can’t lie this weeks post was difficult to write!

I had it all planned out but when flowing through the memories it just didn’t feel right.

I woke up this past Sunday, his birthday, a little after midnight and it couldn’t go back to sleep. 

I cried numerous times while writing this!!!

I miss my friend!

If you read last week post you were introduced to a shy kid who had a shield larger and more stronger than the Berlin wall... until I met Chief, Brian Baldwin, my buddy. A friendship that started off at church as toddlers and then grew over time. For some reason we bonded and I felt safe around him. We spent numerous weekends together venturing to Alabama A&M games; boy scouts, movies, and served on numerous boards together at church as children. He was one of the cool kids but humble.

I recall my first two years of elementary was rough until he transferred to the school I was attending but what made it cooler was that we were in the same class in 2nd grade.  That year I recall coming out my shell a little more, not a lot but enough to where I was comfortable to interact with other kids. It was during this time that I also found my sense of humor courtesy of Chief. He was smart but silly and if you wanted to hang with him you had to either be willing to dish a couple of jokes or take a couple of jokes. I did both.

I have many fond memories of my friend; I will share a couple with you.  One of the best memories I have with Chief that I can recall was there was a time that I remember going over his house and as we entered his room. I remember he had room upstairs but before you enter his room you passed an office during this time it was rare for a family to own a computer, but he had one, and I wanted to play on it. Chief had other plans, you see he was quite the innovator; he dug in his closet an whipped out a set of homemade quads he created out of various empty planter peanut cans. Using clear packing tape created the heads of the quads and his drumsticks he made also out of the cardboard rod you find on wire hangers cut perfectly in half with the ends covered in tissue paper.  You may laugh but he had those quads in perfect tune.  You see even though Chief had all the cool gadgets around him he found pleasure in creating his own and doing things that pleased him even if went against the norm, a trait that he carried into his adulthood.

Another memory I recall (and I hope have exceeded the statue of limitation on this) is during scouting trips we were quite the rowdy bunch. And one of the craziest and probably the dumbest things that we did during our camping trips was create fake cigarettes, using notebook paper with toilet tissue as the filler.  We thought we were doing something, smoking TP cigarettes, not knowing what toxic chemicals we were inhaling into our bodies. Chief took it another step though, I was over his house one weekend and we ventured off to Johnson on bikes like we usually did and when we get there he whips out Altoid box full or what I thought was "TP" cigarettes. No he took it to a whole new level, it was printer paper rolled up like cigarette with Lipton tea as the filler with filter made out of toilet paper. An innovator I tell you. He was very creative. 

I miss him!

I wasn't until creating this post did I realize how much I was grieving. A mask concealed my pain of losing a friend that had a great impact on who I am today. Through him I was granted access to places and people that I would of more than likely never came across. It was by his example that I decided to turn my love of photography into a business by kicking caution into the wind. It was for him being him and accepting me for who I am which allowed our friendship grow. So hail to the Chief, you will forever by remembered! Rest on my Friend and leave a light on for me!