Our Little Boy

In my last two posts I posted about my experiences with the birth of my children.  In this post I will talk about my youngest.  Michal.

God gives us many blessings in life.  Some we can see and touch and some we do not see, some we do not even comprehend that it is a gift from our Father in Heaven.  I am among the ones that have been given so many gifts and sometimes I forget to go on my knees and thank Heavenly Father for those blessings.

My blessings are my children.  Stephen, Nicole, and Michal I will always consider them the greatest gifts and greatest blessings I have here on earth.

I to this day feel I blew it big time with Stephen and Nicole.  I was not there all the time for them.  I was so involved with my military career.  Then when I was home, I was not a good father that I really wanted to be.  There are reasons for this that the three of us know.  I do not offer excuses as there are none that will make it better.  I have since made things right and make sure my children know the love I have for them and have always had for them.

I have been blessed by having a second chance at fatherhood.  This is truly a wonderful gift from Heavenly Father.

I met Susie Lee Rice when I came home on leave and visited my mother with my family.  Every time I was there to visit my mother Susie would be there.  She became a huge friend to my family and me.  Her friendship meant the world to me and my children.

When I went through my divorce Susie was there.  Susie's first concern were my children.  She would take Stephen and Nicole and do things with them and just listen to them.  She was awesome.

Susie and I realized that our friendship was deeper than that.  I knew that Susie meant more to me.  Soon we started dating.  One day Stephen came to me and said we had to have a man to man talk and that Nicole wanted to be there with us.  I agreed.  They advised me to give up on their mother.  They then blew me out of the water by saying they thought Susie would make a great Step-Mother and wanted me to marry her.  Little did they know we were dating.

When things became more serious and I knew I could not live without Susie and I knew she could not live without me, I surprised her at a surprise birthday party for her and proposed to her.  She accepted.  I was saddened to think I had a vasectomy  and could never give Susie children.  Susie never had children of her own.  Susie was ok with this situation because she loved Stephen and Nicole as her own and would lay her life down for them.

Stephen and Nicole grew up and went out on their own.  Stephen joined the Marines and Nicole was with her mother and later got married and lived in California.  Susie and I moved away.  I missed my children so very much.  I would go into the bedrooms and just cry.  I imagined them with us and the fun we had, the tears we shared, the way we bonded and healed.

A year after Susie and I were married I converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (Mormon).  This was a turning point in my life.  In the Mormon faith we are assigned families to preside over as Home Teachers.  Our duties as home teachers are to visit the families once a month and determine if there are any needs and to offer service to them in any way or fashion.  My very first home teaching family was The Beechers.  Sandy the Dad, Deniece the mom, and their daughter Crystal.   Sandy was in the Navy and away at sea, so I did not get to know him as much as Crystal and Deniece.  I did what I could to help out.  We became close friends.  When they closed down Alameda Naval Air Station the Beechers were transfered to Washington State.  Shortly after that Susie and I moved to Utah.

The Beechers and Susie and I still remained close even while we were so far apart.  Phone calls and the internet helped out a lot.  Eventually Sandy and Denice divorced and Denice and Crystal moved to Idaho Falls, Idaho.  They were a little closer and we would go see them and they would come to Utah to see us.  This whole time I prayed for a way to have children back in my life.  Susie and I had exchange students in our home as well as filed to become foster/adopt parents.

Susie and I moved to Marsing, Idaho a few years later.   Denice and Crystal and us still visited back and forth and we were like family. 

When Crystal was 16, she became pregnant.  They called us and asked us if we would consider adoption as we had offered when they first told us Crystal was pregnant.  We agreed and told them it would be an open adoption.  We wanted desperately to have the baby know just how much love they had.  The sacrifice that was made and to be able to have some type of relationship with Crystal.

My prayers had been answered.  From that moment Crystal and Denice shared everything with us.  The first time the baby kicked, the doctor visits and what was said.  We found out the Crystal was having a boy.  I was really excited.  Susie was besides herself with excitement.

Adoption for both parties is such a roller coaster ride of emotions.  There is fear, there is happiness, their is sadness, their probably is every emotion you can think of.  We all had it.

As the months progressed the excitement grew and grew.  I could not believe how blessed I was to have a second chance.  I could not believe that I would soon hold another little one in my arms and cuddle and coo with,  I could not wait to change diapers, I could not wait for the sleepless nights, I could not wait for all that a little baby can give.

Susie and I were at work when I received a call from Denice.  I knew it was Dencie but it took me by surprise.  She said "Your son is on his way"  I could not grasp what she was saying.  My mind went to Stephen.  I could not know why Stephen would be coming all the way from North Carolina and why would he call her to let her know and not me?  and how did he get her number? Denice laughed and said " No your baby, you better get down here as Crystal is in labor"  I was so excited I mumbled something I am sure to this day was not even intelligent.  I called Susie at work and told her what was said and I drove to pick her up and we went to pack and drive down to Idaho Falls.  Idaho Falls is a 6 hour drive.  It was about a 20 30 minute drive to get to our house from work.  I just wanted to get there fast.  It took forever for Susie to pack and get things she wanted and in the car.  I believe it was like 3 hours before we got on the road.  I did my very best to keep the speed limit.  I must be honest, I toyed with the idea of going as fast as I could but I did not want to have to one be pulled over and waste time with getting a ticket and two, did not want to have to pay a ticket.  So I kept it about 5 miles over the speed limit.

We finally arrived at the hospital.  Susie and I rushed in and were escorted to the waiting room for delivery.  They had Crystals door shut a little.  So, I stood by the door.  About 10 minutes latter, Crystal delivered a little baby boy.  I heard him cry.  Yep, you guessed it, I was a blubbering idiot.

Logan Blair Michal Beecher was born 16 October 2002.

They allowed us in Crystal's room about 10 minutes latter.  There we saw our son for the very first time.  I swear to you, he was made just for Susie and me.  We bonded right away.  As I remember it, Crystal asked that we be the first ones to hold him.  Soon Susie and I were given a bracelet to identify us as the parents.  For the next couple of days we were at the hospital every waking hour.  Crystal would let us hold him.  She would let us bath him and she would let us change his diapers.  It was such a wonderful experience.  Crystal and Deniece were such troopers.  They allowed us the opportunity to bond with him.

We were able to bring Crystal and the baby home from the hospital.  Susie and I hung around so that Crystal and Denice could stay good bye.  It was very hard for Susie and I to walk out the door with our brand new baby.  We knew deep in our hearts that our joy was their pain.  We stayed as late as we could.  When it was time we all walked out the door to our car.  We gave Crystal and Denice one more time to say goodbye before we strapped him in the car seat.  Then we turned and gave them a great big hug and said thank you.  Poor Crystal was crying.  Susie and I felt so bad.  I was tempted for a brief second to say wait.  I changed my mind you keep him.  But I knew this was the right thing.  Crystal went into the house.  It was time to say good bye to Denice.  She was crying too and she gave me the biggest hug and said "Thank you"  This put me back for a second.  I told her no, we need to thank her and Crystal for such a precious gift.

The adoption process took awhile to go through.  We were there when Crystal gave up her rights as a mother.  In the state of Idaho once the gavel is slammed down by the judge you can never change your mind.  He was so great to Crystal.  He explained everything to her and allowed her a few minutes to make a decision.  She said she wanted to continue with the adoption process and give up her rights.  With that the Judge declared her rights had been terminated.

When we filed the paper work we decided to change his name to Michal Logan Blair Root.  On 31, October 2003 I received a phone call from my lawyer's office to come get some final paper work and take it to the court house.  When we got there Susie and I thought we just had to turn them in and wait once again for the next step.  The court clerk said just a minute.  When she came back she had the finalized adoption paper work signed by the Judge.  She said "OK here you go, you are finished"  Susie and I were like that's it?  There is no more hoops to jump through?  He is officially ours? She said yes.  So a year after his birth we were able to have Michal as our son.

Michal is now 7 years old and is truly a blessing to Susie and myself.  He is in first grade and doing well.  He is a "high" yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do.  We are now back in Utah and enjoying ourselves as a little family.  Stephen and Nicole adores Michal and call and ask about him all the time.  Michal adores them and loves to talk about his "brudder" and sister.  Michal is an uncle to my 3 grandchildren.  As a matter of fact my oldest grandson Aaron was born a month after Michal was born.  Denice and Crystal call Michal and check in.  Michal still dose not comprehend that he is adopted.  But Susie and I do not hide it from him.  We are always talking about it.  I continue to tell him just how lucky he is.  I explain how he is such a gift to Susie, me, Stephen and Nicole.

Michal, I love you and still believe you are a treasured gift from above to all of us.

Daddy's Girl

Karen, Stephen and I were living in Ellsworth AFB, Rapid City, South Dakota.

Karen found out she was pregnant again.  I was so happy and excited.  As I posted before I wanted to have lots of kids.

As I remember it, Karen did her best to take care of Stehen and do what she needed to do to take care of herself.  This pregnancy was in trouble though.  She was sicker than when she was with Stephen.  I believer her blood pressure was an issue too.  I remember coming home and seeing how misarable she was and trying my best to help out.  Of course nothing I did was right.  It was a very stressful time.  I was so worried about her and our unborn child.  She made sure she took her prenatal vitamins and do everything the doctors told her to do.  We made sure she went to her regular checkups.  Stephen was such a good boy during this whole time.

 About around 4 months Karen started spotting.  We were all worried and terrified.  The doctors told her take it easy.  Right, like that is going to happen with a 3 year old at home.  I would take care of Stephen, feed, bath, change him, play with him.  The whole time keeping a stressful eye on Karen.  If she made a funny face I would run to her and see if there was anything I could do.  If she moved in a different way I would panic and try to complete the task she was doing for her.  I begged her to sit down all the time.

At this time I was working the midnight shift on base and my mind was never on work it was always on my family wondering how they were doing.  It was around 2:00-3:30 am when we received a call at work.  They yelled out ROOT get to the phone right now!  I ran to the phone.  Karen was sobbing.  I could not understand what she was saying.  "Blood, Bed, Scared, get home" is all I heard.  I told her I was on my way.  I ran to my supervisor and told him something is wrong and that I could not tell what she was saying but she mentioned blood.  He ordered me to get home.  When I came home Karen was in the front room shaking and sobbing.  I aksed if Stephen was ok.  she said yes, I said "Are you ok?"  She said "no I am bleeding real bad. Go look at the bed!"  I went to the bedroom thinking I would just see a little spot of blood.  When I pulled back the covers there was a huge and I mean huge blood stain.  It took up most of the bed. I panicked.  I started screaming to sit down.  I went in and grabbed Stephen out of bed.  Grabbed Karen's coat and helped as best I could to get her to the car.  I went flying to the base emergency room.  The gate guard knew something was wrong and asked if we were ok.  I explained that my wife is over 5 months pregnant and there is blood everywhere. He radioed something and told me to not worry about the speed limit just get to the hospital as quickly as I could.  I floored it.

By the time we got there, Karen's nightgown was soaked in blood.  They took her right into the room.  A doctore came in sounding so calm and reassuring.  That is untill he put Karen in the stirups and panic came across his face.  He sent a nurse to get an OBGYN doctor stat!  Within seconds there were nurses and doctors surrounding Karen.  They let me stand by her head and hold her hand.  I noticed one of the nurses tap one of the doctors on his shoulder and pointed to the ground.  I stepped back and looked.  The doctor that was now examining Karen had those booties on over his shoes and it was covered in blood.  The table was stained.  There was a lot of tension in the room.  They pulled me from the room and explained that they did not know what was going on but they did not have the facility to help, that they would have to fly us to Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Aurora, Colorado.  He said "Airman, I do not know if we will be able to save the baby.  My concern is your wife.  You have to decide now, the baby or the mother".  (I never told this to Karen or the kids, Or anybody else)  I said do what is needed to save my wife.  As I sobbed a nurse came by and held me.  She said you need to pull youself together and get back in there for your wife.  I went in as they were explaining to Karen that they wanted to fly her to Colorado.  She asked about the baby.  They never said a word but get some rest.  They put something in her IV and she fell asleep.  They told me to arrange for a baby sitter and to let my family know.  From this point on it was such a blurr.  I do not know who took Stephen for me.  I remember calling Karen's mother and she said she would fly out right away to be with Stephen and bring him back to California.  My mother did her best to calm me and offered to help in any way she could.  Somehow I managed to pack and get my blues on as we were going on a military flight and I had to have them on.  I had to go to my squadron headquarters and report what was happening and make arrangements for the flight and put in for my emergency leave.  I did not know how long we would be in Colorado.  I did not know anything.  I was so drained and scared.  My comander pulled me into his office and offered a prayer and advised me to do whatever it takes to get Karen through this.  He called his wife and had her promise to help out and get the others wives involved.

By the time I got back to the hospital Karen was awake and so pale.  The panic in her face was more then I could face.  When I backed out of the room she called to me.  I took a deep breath and walked back in.  She squeesed my hand so tight.  She said she is so scared.  I said the most stupid thing.  I said it will ok.  Women do not want to hear that.  Karen let me know how she did not like me saying that and then she cried. I did what I thought I needed to do and that is hold her and let her sob.  I wanted so bad to let her know I was scared too.  But I did not.  I tried to be the one who was strong.  I now know that was a huge mistake.  We men need to confess our fears also. We must of stayed holding each other for a long time.  When my back could no longer handle bending over the bed in this embrace. I stood back up and asked if she was in any pain and she said no.  That was at least a little bit of a relief for me.

They came in and said they would be taking us to the medivac plane now.  They rolled Karen on the stretcher to the ambulance and then to the tarmac.  They loaded her on the plane.  Her stretcher hung from the roof of the plane and she was belted to the stretcher then they secured the stretcher.  They ordered me to the seats up front.  I begged to stay with her and they ordered me again.  I looked at Karen and she smiled at me, so I knew I should do what I was told.  I went to my seat.  Everybody knew that I had not been to sleep yet from the previous day so they told me to sleep on the way.  I did not.  I kept looking back at Karen all by herself.  The medivac nurses would come by and make sure she was ok.  They were so good to her.  But I still could not relax.  Those words that the doctor said to me kept rolling around in my head.  I chose Karen over the baby.  Would she ever forgive me?

We landed at a small little guard base the name escapes me at this time.  They gently loaded Karen in the ambulance and secured me and away we went to Fitzsimmons Army Hospital.  The ride was not long.  They rolled her in and hooked her to a lot of monitors.  There was one for the baby and some for her.  They did some tests and told us the next 24 hours were going to be critical.  They told her she is on strict bed rest.  That the only time she can get up is to go to the rest room.  They put her in her own room and the wait began.

We were treated like a king and queen.  I had access to the fridge to all sorts of juices and snacks for Karen.  They sent in a chaplain and other people to help out.  They gave Karen all sorts of crafts to work on so she would not go stir crazy.

We were told that we would have a premature baby with in a couple of days.  I relayed all this to the families.  And they all tried their best to support us.

24 hours went by, then 48, Karen's doctor. Dr. Williams told us then by the end of the week she would deliver.  The end of the week came and no labor.  Dr Williams was causious but excited.  The longer the baby stays in you the better.  She ordered a shot to help increase the baby's lung maturity.  When a month went by they said we will just ride it out.  By this time my leave had run out.  So I put in for a humanitarian reassignment and was transferred to Lowry AFB, Denver, Colorado.  This is where I went to tech school so I was excited.  I would have to cross train to the Heating carieer field.  I would be assigned as a boiler operator at the base steam plant.  But becaue it was a humanitarian I had another month or so to report.  I waited as long as I could then flew back to South Dakota and packed  our belongings and moved to Colorado to begin a new life.

One of our friends from my squadron had been at Fitzsimmons because they had a premature baby.  They wanted me to be prepared to what would happen if we had one.  So Phill and his wife agreed to let me in to the neonatal unit to see their baby.  I was not prepared for what I saw.  There in the incubator was this tiny little baby with tubes in and out of her.  As my knees buckled, Phil caught me and helped me to a chair.  Robin held my hand and told me it will be ok.  They tried their best to get me to relax.  They told me I needed to pull myself together because I had to be there for Karen when she saw our baby for the first time.  I agreed.  They told jokes and was able to get me to smile and laugh.  I left with my head whirling.

The month turned into another month.  The waiting continued.  Karen was going bonkers by this time.  She could not get out of bed.  She could take a shower I believe 3 times a week and she had to sit to do it.  I felt so bad for her.  I knew she was sneaking out of bed but could not prove it.  One day she asked me to go get her some juice and a snack.  On the way back I noticed this huge stomache sticking out of the door frame.  I laughed so hard I spilt the juice.  I went back and got some more when I returned.  I asked if she got out of bed.  Of course Karen denied it.  I started laughing at her and told her what I saw.  We both laughed at that.  I grabbed the camera and had her stand the way she was and took a picture to prove to her.  I do not know where that picture is but it is so funny.  You see the doorways of all the rooms and then you see this stomache draped in a hospital gown sticking out of the doorway to Karen's room.

I could not stay away from work any longer and I had to process in on the base.  I called and told my new supervisor the date and found out what time he wanted me to report.  I was not wanting to do this but knew I needed to be out of Karen's hair and give her a breather.  By this time Karen had made it to 8 months.  Dr. Williams was feeling better about our odds.  She ordered a test to check the maturity of the baby's lungs.  I was not prepared at all what would be the longest needle I ever saw go through Karen's belly.  They drew out some fluid and said they will let us know the results.

On the dreaded day to report to work I was getting ready.  Karen called me and told me to get to the hospital as they were going to induce her that very day.  I was excited but scared at the same time.  I called my supervisor again to tell him.  He said he would make sure I had a couple of extra days but to call as soon as I could to let him know.

When I got to the hospital, Karen had been preped and I believe they had already given her the drugs to induce her.  I asked what happened.  She said Dr. Williams came in and told her she was tired of looking at her face and that the test for the lung maturity came back with a positive so she was going to induce today.  So the wait began.  This was the first time I would be present for a delivery of my own child.  Dr. Williams was great.  She gave me my directions and advised of if they had to do a C section I would not be allowed to stay.  I agreed.  The hours went by.  Karen became more and more uncomfortable.  She was in so much pain.  Then it was time to take her to the delivery room.  Her contraction would come and she would be in  a lot of pain.  I remembered I begged for forgiveness for putting her in this predicerment.  It was at that moment I knew I would never ask her to get pregnant again.  I could not handle the pain she was in.  Dr. Williams yelled out she is crowning.  I was so excited I left Karen and walked behind Dr. Williams.  I said something like that is so cool.  Dr. Williams looked up and smacked me on my head and said get back to your wife.  Karen laughed and said that is ok.  So I was ordered to sit down.  Of course I could not.   I saw thick hair.  Then the shoulders came out  Then the rest of the body.  I yelled to Karen it's a boy!  a second later Dr. Williams told Karen it is  a girl.  I felt so embarassed.  By this time I was crying and ran over to Karen and planted a lot of kisses on her.  Dr Williams asked if I wanted to cut the cord.  When I went into position the cord broke.  The area was just the size of a hair.  At that moment the baby started crying and we all took a deep sigh of releif.  They rushed her into the neonatal unit.

21 May 1984 Nicole Marie Root was born.  Karen told me to go and check on Nicole.  Dr. Williams told the nurses to let me in.  I was surprised at what I saw.  They had Nicole in a regular incubator.  No tubes.  They told me she was tiny but she was in good health.  While I was in the nursery, they had given Karen a sedative and told her to rest.  She kept asking to see the baby.  They told her that there would be time for that for now rest.  Karen fought off the effects of the drug and kept bugging the nurses to see Nicole.  They finaly relented and allowed me to go to the nursery which was across from her room and get Nicole.  I rolled her in and Karen tried to tear out of the bed to get to Nicole. The nurse made her lay down again and I handed Nicole to her.  There we stood tears rolling down our eyes as she held our brand new daughter.  I looked up and saw Dr. Williams was standing there quietly watching.   I could see some tears rolling down her face.  It was a happy moment.

In a couple of days were able to bring Nicole home.  By this time my mother and grandmother flown out to Colorado with Stephen.  Stephen was so excited he had a baby sister.  He was so gentle to her and loved her.  He loved to feed her.  Of course he could not be found during diaper changing time.  If she cried he was there.  If he felt she had cired too long, he would let us know.  He was such a trooper.

Nicole is now 25 and has a son of her own.  Justin  and her live in California.  She still is a daddy's girl.  I am so grateful for her.  I love and miss her.

I love you so much Nicole!

Daddy's Boy

Having children is the most fantastic experience I have ever had. Today I would like to talk about my oldest. Stephen is 28 so this will be testing the old brain cells.

I was a weird kid. Ever since I could remember, I wanted to grow up get married and have kids. I loved kids. While the other guys were talking about having sex just to have sex, I was talking about how great it would be to get married and have kids. As you can see that dose not mix well. I was made fun of all the time.

I must of asked every girl that said she would be my girlfriend if we can get married and have kids. Yes even the grade school crushes. (I told you I was a weird kid).

I met Karen Whitlock my freshman year at Tennyson High School in Hayward, California. She was a sophomore. We did not hit it off well that year. She had her group she hung out with and I had mine. My sophomore year her junior year she went to another school and I lost touch with her. My junior year her senior year we met up again at Holiday Bowl in Hayward, California. She worked in the nursery, my mother worked the front desk, my brother Loni worked as the janitor. Karen had a huge crush on my brother. I feel she still dose to this day. Anyway, My brother told me about this girl who kept bothering him. So, being the nosy type I thought I would go to the bowling alley to find out who it was. I do not know what changed but when I saw her again the fireworks flew. In my mind she was pretty, funny, and engaging. I do not know how I worked up the courage to ask her out. But we started to date. My memory is that we fell in love almost right away. Yep, you guessed it I wanted to marry her and start having kids. Months went by. At this time her parents lived in Manteca, California and she lived with her grandmother it turned out right across the street from me. One day we took a greyhound bus to see her folks. On the way back I pulled out my pocket calender (Yes, I was a nerd too.) I pointed to a date that escapes me right now and said to her "plan the wedding for this date" she of course said "don't you need to ask me first?" So I did. She refused to answer me for a couple of days. She finally did with yes. I knew this was the one. I knew I would marry her.

We found out shortly after that she was pregnant. I was so excited. One catch... we were not married yet. Karen and I wanted to call her parents and of course my mother would not hear that. She said we owe her parents the respect to tell them in person. So we drove up. When we got there her family was so happy to see us. I was so nervous I could barely sit still. Her little brother Terry who was I think 9 at the time and I played it was fun. Then her dad came home from work. Now I was terrified. After dinner we started watching TV. I do not know if it was by chance or that it was just normal but every program, every commercial was about babies. Most of the programs were of kids getting pregnant before they were married. Karen and I would look at each other with wide eyes. I kept thinking to myself we have to tell them. Before we knew it her brothers went to bed, her parents then went to bed and we were left there alone watching yet another program about babies. We said we have to tell her parents soon. Without warning Karen got up off the couch and said come on, she started walking to her parents bedroom. I was like now? she said yea we have to tell them tonight. It was at that moment I remembered that her dad had a pistol under his bed. I think I stammered and tried to get Karen to wait but she was determent to tell her parents which was the right thing to do. She knocked on the door and went in and without skipping a beat she said "Well we thought we would tell you I am pregnant" My knees buckled, I waited for the worst but it did not come. Her dad looked at us both and said " you guys are 18 and 19 you are adults why tell us?" We said something about trying to show them respect. Her dad said "what are you going to do now?" I said that I had planned on joining the Air Force and we planned on getting married. Her dad was so awesome, He said "I do not want you to marry my daughter just because she is pregnant. It will never work out and it will be hard on the children if you do not do it for the right reasons." I assured him I loved his daughter and wanted to marry her anyway.

I do not know how long we were there but we excused ourselves and left the room. We were drained. Karen went into her room and I went into the room that they always had for me. About 5 minutes later I hear the door to her parents room open and I heard footsteps. I thought this is it, I am dead now. Karen's father came into my room after he had grabbed Karen and said to follow him. He said "You have already slept together, do not insult me by sleeping in separate room now!" He took us into the living room and pulled out the sofa bed and ordered us to sleep there. It was a looooonnnnng night. I could hear Karen's mother crying it seemed like all night long. Karen and I could not sleep, we were so excited about being pregnant.

We were married and I joined the Air Force. I was in Tech School and Karen was over due so they thought If I would come home for a visit she would relax and go into labor. I came home and spent a couple of days with her and her family. I had to get back to training so I left disappointed that I could not be there when she went into labor. I flew back to Colorado to finish school. 1 June 1981 I came home from school to my dorm and found a note to call the red cross. After giving them my information they said "We are excited to inform you that your wife had a baby boy. All is well. Congratulations." I do not remember hanging up the phone. I was so excited I started screaming in the hallway. Now as you know we are trained to keep our military bearing at ALL times. I was ordered to the commanders office for this infraction. I could not stop smiling tho. The commander looked at me and started to tell me the importance of keeping military bearing and how I was disturbing everybody. He then looked at me as he leaned across the desk and say what was all the fuss about? I told him I had just found out my wife had a baby boy and that I am now a father and how it had always been my dream to be a daddy. He smiled the biggest smile I have ever seen and said "So that is why? well I can forgive you this one time." He pulled out a $20.00 bill and handed it to me and said "Go to the Arman's Club and buy a drink on me." With that he tore up the letter of reprimand and stood up and shook my hand. After saluting him, I was leaving his office, he shouted out "ROOT! I expect a leave request on my desk within 24 hours so you can see your son" I said yes sir and off to the phones I went to call everyone.

1 June 1981 Stephen Darryl Root was born in French Camp, California. I was able to fly home a couple of days later.

The whole trip from Colorado to California I could not wait to get home. It seemed like it took forever to get home. To this day I do not believe I kissed my ex wife when I walked in the door, I do not believe I said hello to anybody. I just kept saying where is he? They all laughed at me and told me to sit on the couch. Karen went to the bed room and a couple of seconds later she walked out with my son. She layed Stephen in my arms and told him that his daddy was holding him. I think I cried like a baby. Writing this I have tears running down my face of that precious memory. Now, I have held new borns long before this but this was my own. I did not want to break him. He was tiny and so cute. I caressed his tiny head, I played with his fingers and toes. I must have kissed him a zillion times in those first few seconds. All time had stopped at that very moment. I remember staring at him, amazed that I had helped to bring forth this new life into the world. Then panic hit me. What if I do not measure up as a dad? I do not know how to work on cars, I do not do sports at all well. Oh no, I made a huge mistake he will never like me. Karen must of sensed this as she leaned down and kissed me on top of my head and said you will be a good father. Soon it was time to give Stephen a bath. I sprung off the couch and begged to let me do it. There is a picture of me in my Air Force blues giving Stephen a bath. What the camera did not capture is that when I took off his teeny tiny diaper Stephen peed all over me. We all had a good laugh over that one. Karen's mom said well you have been christened a daddy now. I did not want to put him down. But it he was tired and needed to go to his crib. I must of went into the room a million times. Soon my family came and I had to share Stephen with everyone. when they left of course it was back to the crib so he can get his sleep. When he woke up I was right there. I fed him, I burped him, I changed his diaper. Karen's two brothers would hold him too. One day my ex mother in law noticed I had not picked him up. She said "are you OK? you have not picked up your son." I hung my head and said "Well he has been picked up and held so much today that I did not want to make him sick." She laughed so hard tears rolled down her cheek. She said "Darryl, he is not a puppy, you are so sweet for thinking that way, but pick your son up!" With that I ran to the room and picked him up. I did not put him down unless I was forced to either give him to someone else or had to put him down for a nap. Now that I look back on that I realize the days flew by and it was time to go back to Colorado to finish my training which would be another month. I cried the whole trip back. I must of told everyone on the flight that I had a son. I was so proud.

It was not long before Karen, Stephen and myself were reunited at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. That is another story that will have to be told later.

Stephen is now 28 years old is married to his beautiful wife Jessica and has two children of his own. Aaron 7 and Gracie 2. I am so proud of Stephen. Stephen joined the Marines and went to Iraq and fought in the war. Stephen has seen so much sorrow while he was there. Even with all the horror he witnessed he still is a nice young man. Stephen and his family live in South Carolina. I miss them so much.

I love you so much Stephen!

Family Bonds

Today I would like to talk about family bonds.

Family is so important to the stability of ones life. Family is important to ones community. Lets look at why.

First, lets look at what is a family. Well, it can be just a husband and wife. It can be mom and children, or dad and children, or in the best case it would be mom, dad, and the children. Now their are all different make up of families. For example, I had my Mom, my step-father and my brother and my step-father's 5 children my step siblings, AND I had my Dad, step-mother and my half brothers and sister, AND I had my step-father that raised me and my step-mother and my step sister. Not to mention all the foster brothers and sisters my mom and step-father had. So I was lucky enough to have a huge family. I have friends that their family was their grandparents. I had a friend in the Air Force who had his aunt and uncle as his parents. There are some kids out there that their family is the orphanage and the other kids. So as you can see family can be defined in so many ways.

What ever your family dynamic is please know you all are important to each other. Without a positive family it is hard to get ahead in life. I was so lucky I had the kind of parents I had. They encouraged me to reach for the stars and beyond. They have always been there in any situation with a kind word or advice. With a firm and huge hug or a funny story to keep me going. My brother Loni has encouraged me when I was going through my painful divorce or at other times. My foster sister Dee was the first one to me when my ex and I made the decision to divorce. Dee just held me tight as I sobbed. My brother Max always has a joke or something to make me smile. My sister Kit never let a time go by when she says "I love you big brother" I can go on and on. I am so grateful to my family. Did we fight, yes. Did we say harsh words, I am so guilty of that. But our love for each other would prevail and we would forgive each other. I feel at 47 we are closer now then ever before.

Men, especially men that are my age or older please tell your children you love them. Please show them you love them. I made the huge mistake to not tell my older children Stephen and Nicole. I always assumed that they knew. I have since corrected that and make sure I let them know all the time. My son Michal probably gets tired of me telling him all the time. But I seen the error in my ways raising my first two. My son Stephen and I had a wonderful talk one day. He said " Dad, please don't make the same mistakes with Michal." Those words have stuck deep within me. I try my best to be better. Sometimes I feel I fail but I just dust myself off and try again. Now I have 3 wonderful grandchildren and I am trying hard not to make any mistakes when it comes to them. I want to start a new campaign starting today. I will let them know I love them in one way or another. Maybe a phone call one day, maybe a letter another. Maybe a text message to their parents to give to them. What ever, I just need to let them know more than I have been.

A relationship is always revolving and growing. We should tend it like a garden. Weed out those things that need to be weeded out, nurture it in ways that will help it grow. If you were to leave a garden unattended then you will see weeds everywhere, your garden will die. So to with your family relationship. If there are weeds growing in your family relationship, tend to it fast. It dose not matter how old the scar reach out and say I love you, I am here. Sometimes the words I am sorry is what someone feels they need to hear. Even if you feel they should be the one to say it. Please say it. I am sorry are three powerful words and heal so much if said.

Husbands and wives start one night a week and have date night. Date night dose not have to be a dinner and a movie. What about a walk somewhere and talk. What about just holding hands or looking at the stars. Do something together away from the stresses of life.

Moms and Dads start doing some type of family night. Pick one day a week and turn off the TV and do something together as a family. Play games, sing songs. Have a family meeting, or like I said on my last post, do a service project for some one. For those of us who are religious why not read the scriptures together. Just get together and be a family.

Remember, we never know how long our family members will be with us. Do not be the one who has regret because you did not let that person know you loved them. Start today let your family know they are important to you. Let them know they are loved. If they are far away let them know they are missed.

It is my sincerest prayer that we all can build stronger family bonds. It is my wish that families can and will be positive influences to each other. It is my prayer that those that are shattered can be mended.

Giving Service

Today I would like to talk about giving service.

My intention with this post is not to shame but to inspire. It is my wish that my children and grandchildren will see just how important giving service is. It is my wish that they can carry this message forward to their families.

What dose giving service mean? In my opinion it simply means giving your time, talents and energy to others. Notice I did not mention money. Money will help most people yes. But by giving your time and energy that is the key. Some of us do not have spare money that we could give. In my 47 years of living I have noticed that most people have a hard time accepting money. They feel shy, guilty, they feel they would have to pay back. But if you give them service then they relax a little.

Who do we give service too? How about to our families? How about to our neighbors? How about to our friends? and finally how about to strangers? As you can see we could and should give service to everyone. If you look around, you will see someone who needs your help. In my opinion, there is no reason or no one to not give service to. Why not help put a smile on someones face. Feel the glow deep in your soul by giving. There is no greater reward then to see the smile on the face of those you serve.

What kind of service can we give? Find something that you can do for whoever you want to give service too. We are given so many gifts of talent. You can do something simple like bake cookies and give them to your neighbor or friend. You can do something more complex like fix an appliance or car. If you are young, you can do something simple like clean your room without being told. Or you can take out the trash without being asked. What about babysit for a couple so they can have a date. What about sitting down with that teen and ask how is your day going? Lend your ear and listen. They might teach you something. What about read to someone who cannot see very well or cannot read. You might even volunteer at the food shelter. You can mow someones grass for free, or rake the leaves. These are just a few ideas. There is so much more you can do.

Some families have one night a week were they have a family night. We in the Mormon faith call it Family Home Evening. What a great way to spend time as a family then to choose a service project and do it as a family. This will help build stronger family bonds and also show your children the importance of giving back. I know a few families who go together to the food shelter and work. I know some more that go to a neighbor and mow, rake, trim the trees, weed etc.

Sometimes giving comes without planning it. You can be walking down the street and see someone in need. What about the lady with all those kids trying desperately to put the groceries in the car and get her children in the car and in car seats. Why not offer to help put the groceries in the car while she put the children in their car seats and buckled up.

I know a gentleman who saw how some kids have to do without on Christmas. He was on social security and really had no money to give. He thought about it and came up with the idea of making toys. With what he could put together he made a few toys to give. Pretty soon his family got involved and he was able to make more. Than some friends joined in. It exploded, now he gets help and donations from his community.

I know several young men who get a group together to clean the cemeteries as an Eagle Scout project.

We had a family in our church that was struggling because of the economy. So our church set out to help. We all donated our stuff and held a huge yard sale. Through our efforts we were able to raise over $1200.00. Now I just showed you something with money. But please focus on how we pulled together and did a yard sale. Some of the men moved the heavy stuff around, the women organized it all. Others priced the merchandise. And others provided the service of being there to assist the buyers. The thing is we saw a need. We focused on what we could do and planned it out and did it.

Now, the important part. Giving service dose not come with a guarantee that the person or persons you will help will stop and say thanks. You might feel offended. But don't. Just know in your heart that you did a good thing. Know in your heart that the reward is just doing and there is no greater call then that of giving to others.

My intention of this post was not to be preachy. I did want to inspire you to reach out. To inspire you to think outside the box.

Air Force Years

       Joined the United States Air Force December 1980. I went into Boot Camp 17, March 1981 at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.

I was just 19 years old the day I went in. I remember being so excited when I got on the Plane and headed to Texas. We had problems with the plane and missed our connecting flight. It was in the wee hours of the next morning by the time we flew into to Texas. There were a couple of NCO's waiting for us, they gave us instructions about our luggage and then to get on the bus. I was so tired. All I wanted was to go to sleep but that would not come for a long time. I was still excited but scared as I entered the bus. We were all sitting quietly watching the road go by as we were bussed to Lackland. I remember the looks on peoples faces, some happy and excited like me, some looked scared to death. We all had one thing in common, we did not know what was coming next.

The bus driver yelled out "Here we are. Good luck to you all and God Speed." We all looked up as the bus driver opened the door. In walked the gate guard and he smiled at all of us and said "Welcome, enjoy the ride" with that he was out the door and the bus went through the gates. It took another 5 minutes before he parked the bus and opened the door.

Hell just began.....

All of a sudden a big burly man with a smokey the bear hat starts yelling get off the bus, move it now! get out of this F**ing bus! He looked mean and nasty. I remember thinking what the hell did I just do? I scrambled to my feet and attempted to run but I tripped and fell. Wrong thing to do. He grabbed a hold on me and just started yelling at me about being a klutz and how I was going to die out her and my momma was not going to see me. I was shaking by the time I made out of the bus. There were a whole bunch of men and woman yelling at us. Go here you maggot, drop that you no good piece of Sh*t. We all scrambling around trying as best we could to do everything they wanted. No matter what we did, we did it wrong and that brought more wrath from them. It was a total nightmare. They managed to get us lined up boys on one side girls on the other. Then they had us stand at attention for what seemed like hours. If you flinched they would come up on you and start screaming. I remember it got quiet all of a sudden. I kept my eyes forward as I was instructed. This idiot had the gumption to yell out "When do we get a smoke break?" That started them up all over again. This time they were yelling and pushing and picking people up and throwing them around. It got quiet again and out walks this Captain. He yells out so we all can hear a welcome and our instructions for processing into the base.

Finally, after two hours we were split up into squadrons and marched as best we could to our dorms. That was the only time they were nice to us as the others were still asleep. We had to put our luggage in the day room and then they assigned us our bunks. We had to stand at attention by our racks for about 5 minutes. Then in a whisper and with sarcasm the instructor said "Hit your bunks ladies and no funny stuff. It will be a looooonnng day tomorrow so get some sleep." He laughed and he was gone.

I looked at my watch it was 3:30 am. My mind was whirling. I was thinking about my pregnant wife back home in California. I was thinking of my parents. I knew if my fathers made it through basic I was going to make it. I just kept saying I will make it. I had a hard time falling asleep.

It seemed no sooner than I fell asleep the lights came on, the recording of the bugle started blaring and then the two drill instructors who were assigned to us started yelling and banging on garbage cans "get up you dorks, get up." They would grab the bunks and throw us out of bed if we stayed in them or hesitated. We all managed to get out of the dorm in fast order and made it down stairs were we stood at attention for the opening of the day. We saluted the flag when it was raised, we got our daily instructions then it was PT time. We did a lot of exercises, push ups, sit ups running in place etc. Then it was instructions for chow.

Breakfast consisted of runny scrambled eggs, limp bacon, or burnt sausage, hash browns, fresh fruit, and choice of drinks. We could have any drink we wanted but we had to drink 4 glasses of water before we touched our food or any other drink. This would be the beginning of our daily routine.

At chow we would have to stand at attention at the table until all four chairs were filled then we would have to sit down in unison and then give a prayer or atleast sit there while the others said their prayers. Then we drank our water then ate. Here was the catch. Once we saw our Drill instructor (D I) and then latter or dorm chief get up that was it we had to go. It did not matter if you were the last guy to sit down and just started drinking your watter, you had to get up and leave your food there.

After chow we went back out side and formed up and waited for more instructions. Those that smoked were able to leave formation and go to the smoking area and smoke one cig while the rest of us had to stand at attention. There were a lot of kids that started smoking just so they could get a break.

We were marched to a building were we stood in line yet again to get our heads shaved. There was one guy who had a big thick afro so the barber thought it would be funny and he shaved down the middle of his head. The photographers loved this and took lots of pictures of him. He took it in stride and smiled. Then it was off to get our uniforms. Before that time they called us rainbows as we had all sorts of colors on. When we got our uniforms we were called pickles. At that time we did not have camouflaged uniforms.

The art of Marching...

Let me just say I was not the best at walking before I went in so I was just as bad at marching. I was horrible. There were many a time my DI would pick me up slam me to the ground and start kicking me telling me I would not make it. I mean I would go left when we were to go right, I would always be out of step. I was a mess. There is a position called guideon. For some odd reason they decided to make me the guideon. What a huge mistake that was. I was able to do the flag correctly when the commands were given but once again I would be out of step or go the wrong way. There was one time we were going to a training or something and I was just going my merry way. I noticed I did not hear any commands, nor did I hear the taps of my DI, I swallowed hard and knowing I shouldn't I looked back, My whole squadron was standing at attention and my DI was heading my way. He yelled "did I tell you to stop yet Root?! did I say halt you maggot?! Forward March!!!!" So I took another breath knowing I was in some deep doo doo, I started marching. By that time my DI, caught up to me and he was red in the face screaming at me how my poor momma would not see her son because he was going to kill me etc. Anyway he was so close behind me I could feel his breath. We went by a tree. I did not see this tree but the branch caught the flag pole and the pole went flying out of my hand and smacked him right in the face. Now I knew, I was dead. He called out HALT you Mother F**er HALT!!! I stood there at attention waiting for the end. He calmly asked me if I liked him. I said yes sir! He asked me if I wanted to drive him to an early grave. When I said no sir I do not want to see you dead, he smiled and said good. He took the guideon pole and had me run back to the squad and take my place and he presented the pole to someone new.

Everything in order....

As most of you know we all had lockers. We had to have everything in order socks here, underwear there, towel hanging on our bunk, shave equipment in this drawer. Uniforms hung at certain inches apart. I believe it had to be 1 and 3/4" apart. Our underwear had to be so starched that when they would pick them up for inspection they could not bend in any way. The T-shirts had to be turned a certain way, the shorts had to be another. If you did not have them right they would fling them in the air yelling demerit. Now I was so nervous that I would fail this part that I was always going in and looking to make sure. Well, I would turn them around when I put them back in so I was getting demerits left and right. One day, as usual I was standing at attention next to my locker while I was being inspected. Once again my underwear was facing the wrong way. He started flinging them, one pair of undershorts flew up and landed on my ear. So there I am standing at attention with a pair of undershorts hanging on my ear. My fellow airmen were trying there best to not laugh, snickers would escape their mouths, our DI would look up and of course they would hold their breaths and not smile or move a muscle. Finally after cussing me out, our DI turned to give me final instructions but when he saw me there, he fell to my bunk laughing his face off. He managed to pull himself together pretty quickly. He started screaming at me about being stupid because I did not remove them. Of course when you are at attention, you do not move a muscle. So I could not remove them until told to do so. But this was another excuse to yell and show who was boss.

Cheating....

We had ways of cheating. I know to this day the DI's knew about it but for some reason they left us be. As stated above we had to have our underwear starched so much. They would be so uncomfortable. We purchase extra underwear on our days to the BX. We would put these in our dirty clothes bag separated by a towel. We had only so many minutes to get dressed and get down stairs in the morning. So we would wake each other up early and we would wait. Some of my comrades would sneak up and put one piece of their uniform on. Of course they would get caught and there would be hell to pay. There were other ways of cheating too. I just do not remember how.

Fire Drills.....

Fire drills were always fun... NOT! One or both of our DI's would come in and either yell FIRE!! or whisper fire, fire. As soon as we heard it we had to drop what we were doing and yell fire and run downstairs and form up away from the dorm. One day as we stood at attention our DI opened up the door and yelled at us we better not move. He went back inside and we could hear his taps as he walked across the floor all of a sudden we could hear CRASH, BANG, more taps across the floor and more crashing and banging. Then it went quiet. He appeared by the door again and yelled down get your sorry a**es in here. MOVE IT!! We went flying into the dorm. When we made it through the door we saw everything thrown around, we saw lockers tipped over, bunks torn apart, clothes everywhere. As we stood there dumbfounded he yelled at us to get into the day room. We ran in and sat at attention. He came in smiling, "Laddies! listen up, as you all know there is a critter that lives in texas called armadillos. I will be damned, Some how one of them came in here. I want you all to know I tried hard to catch the F**er. But I was not able to. I am sorry. Now you faggots have 15 minutes to get this dorm in order or else there will be hell to pay."

We did the best we could do but as you can guess, we failed. We spent the next several hours doing PT, running back upstairs trying to put everything back in order by the next time frame and failed and running downstairs to do more PT. It took all day and most of the night to get the dorm the way it needed to be. We were so exhausted when we finished. I think we all slept well that night.

Mail Call.....

We all lived off of mail. Our families and friends would send us mail to encourage us. It was a game to get your mail. We would be sitting on the floor in the day room at attention. The DI would yell out our name and we would yell out "Here sir!" Without looking up he would fling it across the room always on the opposite side you were sitting on. Then as quiet as church mice we passed it to the right person. If our families would send packages the DI's mood would be fun. That usually meant FOOD. If it was then the DI's always got to partake first. What ever was left we would have to share with everyone else first before we were able to have it. Our families would soon send in extra. Then after all the mail would be passed out they would ask who did not get any. When you raised your hand they would say "Looks like no one loves you today. But I do, now give me 50 push up to pay me back for that love" So you would assume the position and they would say begin. and away you would count "sir one sir" and so on till you got to 50. When you reached 50 you would holler out "sir request permission to assume the position of attention sir!" If you were lucky which most were not, they would say you may. Most of the time they would say stand fast. or walk out of the room for awhile leaving you there. Our arms would be like jello but we would hold fast until given permission.

The day time stood still.....

In one of the first days they were teaching us to salute. This consisted of them getting in our faces and yelling salute. We would salute and of course we would not do it right so they would yell and scream and make us do it again and again. When It was my turn I stood there at attention waiting for the command. I had decided I would give the crispest, most stunning salute I could. The DI stared at me "You think you can do this punk?!" I yelled back "Sir yes Sir!" He got even closer to my face and said "oh I have a cocky one here. Salute you dummy!" So, I brought my right arm away from my side, kept it at a 45 degree angle like instructed, so far so good. Then with a quick jerk I brought my hand across my face and I guess I put too much umph in it because my hand went past my face and hit my DI's Smokey the Bear Hat which flew off of his head. He was red in seconds. He pushed me back and I stepped on the brim of the hat. Now, the smokey bear hats are a privilege to wear. They have to earn them. They have to take good care of them. So here I am a nobody just not only knocked off the hat but stepped on it. You can imagine the hell I went through. I could hear everyone say under their breaths "oh S**t". I was told to stand at attention and for what seemed like days he commenced to yell, punch, kick, spit, swore, when he was tired of that he invited other DIs to come join in on the "fun." In a matter of seconds I was surrounded by DIs both male and female. They were screaming, yelling, insulting, demanding answers to their questions. I tried as I might to answer. If I said sir instead of maam I was pushed and shoved, yelled some more. Same thing if I said maam instead of sir. I just kept my eyes forward and stiff as a board. When they would shove me or pushed me back I would snap back to attention fast. My DI excused everyone to the dorm and I stood there at attention with a pack of wolves around me. I saw out the corner of my eye one of my buddies shake his head. I must of dropped and did 150 push ups before it was over. I know it was light out when it started. By the time I was released it was dark and it was time for chow. I was an instant hero to my buddies. They kept saying "Root how did you survive man?" "Root you are amazing, I could not of endured that." "Root I thought you were a dead man when that hat flew off." "Root good job." Others would look at me and laugh and shake their heads.

We have names.....

It came time to get our name tags. It was a huge ceremony to get them. Once you received your name you were somebody. They started to treat us much better. They gave us a speech on how we can honor our names or dishonor our names. How we represent our forefathers and future generations. Then we stood up and snapped to attention. They read off the last names, we would in military stature would step out of formation and do all the moves just right and march up to our DIs. He would extend his hand shake it and say congratulations keep it going. He handed us our name tape and the name tag that goes on our blues. I remember the tears that came down my face. I could not stop them. I was so proud. I looked at how the lettering spelled out R O O T. I thought to myself, my child will be proud of me. I just need to make it through. I thought of my mother and the stories she told of our families who went into the military and how honored she was to know them. I looked around and I did not see one dry eye that day. It is my humble opinion that we walked taller, and with pride and purpose from that day forward.

Graduation Day...

We did it!! We had made it through the hell. We had broken just like they wanted and we were built up to be lean mean fighting machines. We just had to get through graduation ceremonies. We were formed up and marched to the PT field. There in front of family and friends we marched as one. The narrator would call out our flight number as we marched by. The audience would clap. The general all decked out was saluting us and gave us a wink as we all marched by.

We marched back to our dorm and was released were we packed to go to our different schools and get ready. Some left within an hour, others like me had to wait most of the day. We all shared hugs and congratulations and laughed about some of the funny stuff, some of the stuff we got away with. Of course the day I knocked off the hat was the most talked about. When it was my turn to get on the bus, my DI called me into his office. I was at attention, he said Root at ease. He said "Root, you made it. You did good. Do you know why I rode you so hard? Do you know why I was so mean and nasty to you? It is because I knew you were going to make it. I did not want you to puke out. I wanted to see you succeed. I did not want you to give up on yourself. I knew the harder I pushed the more determined you were to make it. I knew you and a few others were special. I want you to go away and know you endured. I know Root you can do anything if you put your mind to it. I want you to go forth and be an example to those you come in contact with. I want you to do just as good in the school you are assinged to. Get out there and show them just how great the US Air Force can be." With that he gave me a huge hug. And then he snapped back to DI mode and said "get the hell out of my office!" With that I was free. This guy was unbearable. And here I was walking out his door sad. I was going to miss him. I was going to miss his guidence. It was so wierd how I was feeling at that moment. I had a bright future ahead of me.

I don't want you to think by this writing that it was all bad. I had some fond memories as well. As a matter of fact I have shared some of them in this writing. Basic training was an adventure and I am so glad I made it. I did take what I learned and applied it throughout the 23 1/2 years of my Air Force career. I apply most of it in my daily life as well. I am so grateful that I was able to serve our country and help protect our freedoms.

I intend to write more and share my memories of tech school at Lowry AFB in Denver Colorado as well as memories from my whole carrier.

Introduction to this blog

Hello to all who partake of this blog.

This blog will be another way to have a journal and to make it available to my friends and family.

In this journal I will be putting down my thoughts, stories, memories. I also intend to leave messages to my children and grandchildren, to my wife and my parents. I would also like to extend messages to my brothers and sisters and their families.

We in the Mormon faith have been instructed on several occasions to put down such on a record for future generations. I agree with this with all my heart. What a wonderful gift for the generations to come to be able to read about events that shaped ones life. What a wonderful gift to read about your ancestry and their thoughts, memories and see photos. What a wonderful way to share how to overcome problems that were faced.

I intend this as a way to bring families together not apart. These are MY thoughts, memories etc. I do not intend at all to hurt or anger anybody. I will do to my best ability to keep things as factual as possible. But sometimes ones memory dose not match that of another. So please do not use these words as way to jab or argue with another. Please just smile and say well, in my memory he has it a little wrong. Please use these words as a way to learn, love, and grow.

Let me start of by introducing myself...

I am Darryl Jon Root. I was born 16 February 1962 in Hawaii to Susan Lee Everstine and Ronald Frank Root. I am the eldest child. My brother Loni was born 9 March 1963. My brother Michael was born 1965 and died the same year. My parents divorced soon after. I had the honor of having a great man raise me when my father could not. His name is George Allen (Skip) Parry Jr. Skip adopted my brother Loni and I when we were little. Skip did his best to be a father to us both. When I was about 16 my parents divorced and I was curious to find my father again. When I did I found out I had 2 more brothers and 1 Sister. Max, Kit, and Terry accepted me and Loni with open arms and hearts. My step mother Sunshine is a wonderful person and has shown me and my family love. My dad Skip married Lori and I have a sister Kelly. Both of them are so awesome. My mother married Robin Hughes. Robin is also great. He has 5 children and I try to be close to them too.

I was married to Karen Lee Whitlock 29 November 1980. Stphen Darryl Root was born 1 June 1981 Nicole joined the family 21 May 1984. In 1995 Karen I divorced. As a father I made some mistakes and for that I am truly sorry. I married Susie Rice 9 Sept 1995 and we have been going strong ever since. We were blessed to be able to adopt Michal Logan Blair Root born 16 October 2002.

I have 3 wonderful grandchildren Aaron Michael Root, Virginia Grace (Gracie) Root and Justin Mathew ( I can never spell his last name. I am sorry Justin.)

I currently live in Provo, Utah. Utah is a gorgeous state.

I will close this here and will write soon.