Circling the Wagons...

Word Count: 3783. And I think it's finished! Have to break for dinner and 'Survivor', so will check back later or tomorrow, and post the final word count on the WIP and how many pages, etc. Also have to come up with a title, add some description, and general editing. Otherwise, I'm happy with it!

First of all, the good news: My nephew Derek is having his Big 3-0 birthday today!!! Welcome to adulthood, ha ha:) You made it!

This kid came into my life as a scrawny 10-year old. His uncle was a friend of the guy I was dating, and we would go to his house and chit-chat. Fast-forward 4 years, and surprise, surprise...I'm dating his uncle! And let me clarify...there is no blood between the two; his mom decided to 'adopt' Dan's family, and consequently, Derek and his two siblings refer to us as Aunt and Uncle, and call D's parents Grandma and Grandpa.

Anyway, on New Year's Day, 1991, D and I traveled to southern Indiana to officially meet the family as D's new girlfriend/significant other/whatever a 36 year old man calls the 25-year old he's dating! To my surprise, this scrawny kid is now a budding teen, and looks surprised when I recognized him! Fast-forward 5 months; he and his sister embraced me as a member of the family, and for the next several years, spent many happy summers at our house, pooling, meeting new young people, and in Derek's case, discovering the 'joys' of taking care of an 18-month-old at the pool while his aunt retrieved a clean swim suit (Swimmies hadn't been invented yet!). I came back; he was surrounded by young ladies, all cooing over my son. Derek was happily collecting phone numbers!

"Go away," he called. "This kid's a chick magnet!"

He had some rough high school years; several friends died in car accidents; his mom remarried and divorced; there was little money for college. Still, he managed to go for two years, got a good job, and met a wonderful young lady he now calls 'wife'. He has fathered two children, Andrew and Joanna. Andrew is the family's angel; he was born with a heart condition and other birth defects, and only lived 10 weeks. His sister Joanna (I have yet to meet her, so I call her Jody!) is about to celebrate her 1st birthday. They have settled into a new home, and from what I've seen on his MySpace pages, they seem very happy.

Good for you, Derek! Happy birthday; you've come a long way. I love you and I'm proud of you. Just bring that baby down here so I can meet her, please? And your card's in the mail. Seriously:)

Now for some not-so-good news: Apparently, there has been some uncalled-for slamming of authors on other sites. Can we stop this, please? It makes you look very unprofessional, jealous, and shows insecurity. We will not stoop to your level and defend ourselves. We believe in our work, and if you choose to dislike what we write, don't read it! That's why they call it "Freedom of Choice" in our country. No one is forcing you to read anything you don't care to read, unless you are taking a class on English Literature and have to read it or fail the class. Otherwise, keep your opinions to yourself. Remember the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." Would you want to see your work/name slammed on someone else's site?

Consider this author's wagon firmly in place around the victim.