Every once in a while, a friend of mine will come to me, and tell me about how they are dealing with addiction.
Sometimes, it will be a close friend, telling me about someone else that I know, that is dealing with addiction.
Other times, it will be someone that I know who has dealt with addiction, and knows someone who just committed suicide because of addiction. Continue reading »
We just had August’s 2 year “Well Baby” doctor’s appointment yesterday.
He is in the 25th percentile for weight, and 50th percentile for height. He’s been holding there for a while now. When he was born, he wasn’t a very big baby. At his 3 month appointment, he was in the 5th percentile for weight, and 10th percentile for height. He started making the jumps by his 6 month appointment. Early on, it was a pretty big concern for me. Now though, I’m totally fine with it.
It is a far cry from where I was at as a child. I was born at 11 lbs 1 oz, and 22” or 23” long. By my 1st birthday, I weighed 33 lbs. Needless to say. I don’t think that ever in my entire life have I been below the 100th percentile. I am currently 6’ 7” / 260 lbs.
August’s height is something that I have absolutely zero control over. His weight is something I have a little control over, on that he not be too underweight, or overweight though. In all reality, while I have no complaints about my height, I wouldn’t wish it on him one bit. Unless of course, he is destined to be a NBA Power Forward, or a NFL Tight End. Continue reading »
A couple weeks ago, I was listening to a radio personality talk about the piece that “60 minutes” did on the large percentage of NFL players that come from American Samoa. Unfortunately, despite thinking to myself that it would be interesting to tune in for that story, I didn’t.
However, this radio personality broke it down for me.
In the end, his take was, the conditions that these guys in American Samoa learn how to, and play football in, cause them to be tougher than many other football players that come from the mainland. Continue reading »
What separates the successful, from the un-successful?
It’s really simple: The successful never allow themselves be overtaken by the “victim” mentality. They never make excuses. They adapt to the hand they are dealt, and play it to the best of their ability. They never give up!
Everyone has weak moments. Sometimes those weak moments turn into longer periods of time than we would like.
In the end though, the successful always come out on top, because they found a way to get through it. Continue reading »
When August’s mom was pregnant, things weren’t all bad.
In fact, even now, our relationship isn’t all bad.
The reality is, for the most part, things were pretty good, except for one major thing.
Going back though, there is one thing that I said, that I don’t deny I said, but she really enjoys giving me crap about. And, it’s not like she constantly reminds me of it. It’s really only come up, maybe, once or twice in the last two years. It’s just funny for both of us to think about. Continue reading »
First, let me start off with, from day one, I have always maintained that it is of the utmost importance that August’s mom stay involved in his life.
I have purposefully left out many of, the not so pretty details of her story. I am not trying to paint a negative picture of her. My hope is that soon, she can come to terms with what exactly it is that has caused her so much loss, deal with it, move on, and finally let the past be the past.
I don’t want her to be “that” parent, whose addiction causes severed ties with their children. I don’t want August to have that kind of hole in his heart. I do recognize that some things are just simply out of my control. Continue reading »
At 22 months, August seems to be progressing very well. Considering the circumstances, I don’t think he lives any less normal life than other kids. He has a strong, supportive family around him. He is healthy. And, he is happy.
When I think about what I do each day to assist in keeping things consistent, the routine is extremely important. Not that it’s as strict as being down to the minute. Only that, for the most part, the schedule of his day is relatively the same, as much as possible.
Almost as important, as far as I am concerned, is he is normally heading to bed by 7:30p / 8:00p, each night. I could never imagine, for his sanity and mine, him being up, on any kind of regular basis, later than 9:00p, and definitely, not later than 10:00p, at night. Of course, there are exceptions, but 9 times out of 10, he is heading to bed, or asleep by 7:30p / 8:00p. Continue reading »