Winter

Christmas time with Case and William.

Helping Case assemble one of his Christmas presents,

and getting to be with Case every other weekend.

Summer Time

Summer time means lots of outdoor activities like mowing the lawn with the help of Case.

 

 

It also means vacation time and traveling. 

For Dwight, he took a trip up to Indiana this summer to be the best man in one of his friend's wedding.

I definitely became the mother hen when I discovered that Dwight's means of transportation was going to be his motorcycle.  It isn't that I don't trust my son, its all those other crazy drivers out there.

All too soon, early one morning, Dwight was packing up his motorcycle to leave.

  

Then he put on his helmet, sun glasses, and gloves.

The engine roared to life, Dwight hopped on..,

 

 and out the driveway he went.

Here is Dwight on his Honda CBR 900 RR that he drives to work each day..,

where he works as a janitor at the Byrdstown Elementary School forty minutes away from home.

Even though Dwight's motorcycle gets 50 miles to the gallon maintenance is a top priority.

Dwight with Case in the GMC pickup truck, which he uses to bring Case up to our house every other weekend.

And like all boys, Case loves trucks.  Here he is at the wheel imitating driving like Dwight.

This autumn we put Sandy to sleep after sixteen years of companionship and loyalty to our family. Sandy's entrance into our lives came at a crucial time for us when Dwight was having a major knee bleed that surgery didn't help. In fact it was Sandy and God that helped Dwight escape another knee surgery. Sandy from the start was always Dwight's dog.



Dwight also helped get the workshop roof covered after it was hit by lightning one hot summer weekend when Randy came up from Nashville to help along with Scotty, our next door neighbor.

Once again Dwight has been allowed to be with Case. What fun Case has playing with "his Dwight"...


on the floor...


and reading story books together.



Lots of love and hugs between Dwight and Case.

Birthday Celebrations

Springtime is when Dwight's birthday arrives. Not only is March Hemophilia Awareness Month, but it is also when Dwight gets another year older. What fun!

This year along to celebrate his "advancing years", Dwight drives a beat-up 1990 Ford Ranger pickup, as his main vehicle for transportation- a gift from his brother-in-law, who decided that it wasn't worth the money involved to get it up to power to pass inspection in Nashville. Dwight loves old vehicles, especially when they sound like a bomb getting ready to explode. The picture doesn't do all the dents and falling parts justice. You'd have to see it in person to appreciate its "finer points".

The weekend of Dwight's birthday was a busy one with riding his motorcycle with a friend in the morning, celebrating his birthday in the early afternoon, and then getting the truck loaded for an overnight camping trip.

Here Dwight is all geared up and ready to head out into the woods with another friend. It was a beautiful weekend to go camping. That evening as he bedded down, Dwight could see a sky full of stars between the trees through his tent roof; a perfect way to celebrate a birthday.

New Year New Beginnings

Dwight has settled back into his old room again getting organized once more between work days. Snow days give him a chance to work on his truck, do stuff out in the workshop, or discuss guy stuff like truck/car parts and camping with a fellow neighbor.


Over Christmas, Dwight spent several days out in Nashville with his sister and family. While running around with the guys checking out after Christmas sales, Dwight found a great deal on a 1950 Remenington semi-automatic 12 GA shotgun, which he bought. He went to a shooting range with Randy, his brother-in-law, visited Tigg one day (who also has hemophilia), and tried his hand at shooting clay pigeons. After ringing in the New Year in the big city, Dwight finally came back home to slower life on the mountain.

Shattered Dreams and Broken Promises

Two years ago Amanda came into Dwight's life bringing dreams to life, laughter, and happiness. Then only after being married a year and a couple of months, Amanda decided that she didn't love Dwight anymore: a month earlier Dwight had become Case's legal guardian. Before Dwight's clothes were out of the house, Amanda started living with Case's biological father, who only claimed Case as his son after being taken to court, didn't give any child support until the state stepped in, and had very little to do with Case. A week later, Amanda filed for divorce refusing to talk to her own family or the preacher, who married and counseled them. Amanda's decision was an unsuspected devastating shock to both sides of the family. How can one person, who gave so much joy, cause so much pain ripping a family unit apart?

The week before Thanksgiving we moved our son back home with us. It was a very emotional traumatic experience. Dwight has not only lost a wife, but an adorable little boy, who called him daddy. Dwight was the only father that Case had known taking care of him 24-7 even after holding down a job.

So now our son must pick up the pieces of his life, work through the pain of broken promises and shattered dreams, and adjust to being a single adult again. Even knowing that he gave his marriage and fatherhood every bit of himself and tried his best to make it work- Amanda admitting that it wasn't anything that he had done- still doesn't prevent his self esteem from taking a bitter blow. Thankfully Dwight is surrounded by close family members on both sides and scores of friends, who are supporting him during this major transition in his life.