Happy Birthday, Glenn!

This is an older picture of my son, but it's my favorite! It was one of those old fashioned pictures. DD is in the picture, too, but she made me promise not to show her! lol I had gotten very lax about taking pictures right before my son's accident. I had taken a lot of pictures of him just a few weeks before the accident, but I hadn't loaded the film correctly and none of the pictures took. He had given me the camera for Christmas the year before. I was so upset when we took the film to be developed and there were no pictures.

Today would have been his 21st birthday! I miss him so much. He and I were very close. I was 32 before I got married and had just accepted the fact that I wasn't going to get married or have children. Then I met Jerry and knew he was the one, and Glenn was born 4 days before our 1st anniversary. He was a very good baby - my little miracle! He wasn't always that good, though. He was a very mischievious little boy! He loved to play pranks on everyone. He was extremely smart, and had trouble behaving in class because he would finish his work so fast and then be bored. Several of his teachers told me that he was the smartest child they had ever taught! He was a Boy Scout, had a 2nd degree blackbelt in Karate, was the 5th grade spelling bee winner for his school and the 5th grade winner for the school district! He was in the Duke's TIP Program for students who made the highest scores on the SAT in the 8th grade. He was a Junior Scholar because of his grades in school and on the SAT. He was listed in Who's Who Among America's High School Students in 2004. He was already getting letters from colleges and universities all over the United States trying to recruit him. But he wasn't a nerdy kid. He had a lot of close friends, and they got into trouble sometimes. He had some run-ins with the law - nothing all that serious! His friends said he was the clown of their group; he always kept everyone laughing!

The day of the accident, a Fri., he had taken my car to have the brakes looked at. He made an appt. to take the car back the next Mon. He came over to my school to pick me up. I was in the library helping another teacher on a computer. When I didn't come out for a while, he came in. He would come over to the school a lot and all the women there would make a big fuss over him! He was 6'4" tall, and very handsome if I do say so myself! lol He came into the library and started helping another teacher on a computer. After a while, we left. When we got home, we sat in the car for a while, talking. He said, "You know, Mom, I just attract girls - all kinds of girls- old women, little girls, all girls are just attracted to me!" We laughed and talked for several min. Then his friend came over and I fixed them some supper.

Finally, they took off to meet up with the rest of their friends. He hugged me and kissed me on the cheek before he left. He told me he loved me and I told him I loved him. I didn't wait up for him because he was 18 and came home pretty late sometimes. At that time I was in pretty bad shape. I was on antidepressants (not as much as I take now), and would have to go to bed pretty early.

At 6:30 the next morning, DD came running into my room, yelling, "Get up, Mom! There's some policemen at the door!" Since he had been in some trouble before, I thought maybe he had done something and they were coming to tell me what he had gotten in trouble for. They came in and told me to sit down. They said, "A car has been found in a lake, and we have traced the car to you. There was a body in the car. Do you have a teenage son?" I couldn't figure out what they were saying. I said, "Yes, I have an 18-year-old son named Glenn." They asked, "Does he have any distinguishing marks - scars or anything?" I still couldn't comprehend what they were saying. I kept thinking it couldn't be my child - he must have let someone else drive my car! I said, "Is this person dead?" They said, "Yes." All I could think about was that my house was so dirty and messed up. I started saying, "I've got to clean my house! I've got to clean my house!" I couldn't cry! I couldn't let myself believe that my most precious son was gone! The lady coroner started helping me clean up the house, and I started calling my family and friends. But I couldn't cry! I was just in shock! Within 30 minutes my house was full of friends and family. I finally started crying, but I still didn't believe it until I saw him at the mortuary. The life I was living ended that Sat. morning, and we have had to build a new life. It is a very different life from what we had before, but there are still a lot of happy times. I'm very thankful for the years I had with my son, and I really cherish all the happy memories we made while he was with us! I know I will see him again someday!

So, Happy Birthday, Glenn! Mom loves you with all her heart!!