My Oldest Son, Jeremy is 31 Today!

Happy Birthday Jeremy!!

This is me and Jeremy in our first apartment. He was almost 2 years old.

This is Jeremy when he was about 7 years old.

This was his "Michael Jackson" shirt. He wore it with a pair of black "parachute" pants.

Jeremy loved Michael Jackson!

Jeremy and his daughter Sabrina in January 2008

I had Jeremy when I was 15 years old. The last week on my pregnancy something happened to Jeremy's cord, it just kind of dried up. He became malnourished and had suffered an extreme lack of oxygen. The doctors honestly didn't think he would ever survive. I was told that "if" he lived he would be a vegetable. Well, Jeremy lived! He falls into the Educatedably Mentally Handicapped area, meaning his IQ is like 1 point below a low normal. He was in special ed all through school, has seizures (which are controlled by medication), has a pretty bad short term memory problem, he is at a 1st grade level in math-which means he doesn't really have a good concept of money, he has a hemiplegia - meaning one side of his body is slightly larger than the other. It's not as severe as cerebral palsy but just a milder form. So he tends to drag one of his legs a little bit especially when he is tired. Jeremy got made fun of more times than I can count in school. He would always brush it off and I would go home and cry and cry at how mean the other kids were to my little boy. It was like sticking a knife through my heart, but I guess it was better that I had the pain and not him.

Through all of the obstacles that Jeremy has endured he has turned out to be an amazing young man. He has held a full time job since he was 16 years old. He very rarely ever misses work. He will walk over 4 miles in below zero weather to get to work, he graduated from High School (it was special ed, but he still did it), he has a wonderful 10 1/2 year old daughter, and he has lived on his own for the last 7 years and hasn't even burned his apartment down!!

So I just want to say to Jeremy that I am very proud of you and of all of your accomplishments! You are a fighter and a hard worker. I know we all tease you a lot and sometimes we loose our patience with you but I love you and I am so proud to be your mom!!