Finally, his, hers and mine, James made nine!,

 

Life is funny with the tests it will throw at you when you least expect it or need it!

Shortly after Mel and I got engaged we were in the process of moving back to my hubby's home town to be closer to his kids.

When I say my life was hectic I am putting it mildly. My two oldest boys were getting in and out of trouble with the police and their involvement with a local gang was the main reason for it. I was trying everything I could to pull them away from that lifestyle while trying to heal my own wounds from the financial strain I was still going through as a result of my own divorce. My ex had basically fallen of the face of the planet and I was being chased around by every bill collector who was looking for him. We had lost our home that I had worked so hard to buy. Luckily I was able to find a nice 2 family to rent with an option to buy for a reasonable price. The bad news was that the upper floors had been occupied for twenty years by a tenant with a severe drinking problem and the whole place was in horrible disarray.

I had to pay for all the repairs out of my own pocket as that was part of the deal for the low rent. The boys helped me clean-up, rip out rugs, wallpaper and paint. I had to pay to have the hardwood floors finished and to have new rugs installed. I had planned to make this my new permanent home.

Well, life had different plans. When Mel and I got engaged we were going to live here. His Kids would come and stay every weekend and holiday with us. But they were having some issues and we needed to be closer during the rest of the week, so that was why we decided to move back to his hometown. For me I thought the move would help me get the boys away from the bad influences.

In the middle of all this, is when James came into the picture, he was from Georgia and Derek met him one summer when James was here visiting family.

Out of the blue Derek told us that James was being kicked out of his Uncle's house because since he turned 18 years old the welfare benefits ran out and his Uncle told him he was not going to support him unless he got paid! James still had a year left in school and other he was a decent kid.

I have no clue why but Mel talked to him over the phone, sight unseen and agreed to have him move in with us!

All these years later we have not regretted it. He is a loving caring person, who has struggled to overcome trust issues. He also has a hard time letting people in emotionally, but he keeps working on trying to form real family ties.

He has had disagreements with the older boys but somehow they have worked it out. He was a gifted football player, field and track star, artist and now is working on his music career. I am sure he is going to accomplish what ever goals he sets for himself.