Amy Catherine

One of Amy's Senior pictures. She wanted to inclue her little brother and sister.

Amy and Shane just before they got married.

Amy and her little cousin Ian, just after returning from Thailand.

Amy and Shane on their wedding day

Would you look at that red hair and those adorable freckles!

Top left: Deb and baby Amy; Amy being pulled by Steve in his wagon; Amy on vacation.

Amy and Steve in their Sunday-best.

About this time of night 37 years ago I began noticing the unmistakable signs that I would soon be giving birth. I was excited and more than a little nervous. I remembered the feeling I'd had just before Steve was born...that I had changed my mind and didn't want to have a baby after all that day. A slight panic was all it was. We were living in San Luis Obispo, California at the time and Bruce was in school (carrying a 4.0 gpa, I might add.) We called my parents to come and take care of Steve while we did what we needed to do. We didn't take into consideration the fact that I would need to go to the hospital in the middle of the night (its always in the middle of the night, isn't it?) and my parents lived about 2-1/2 hours drive away. Add in time to dress and get ready for the trip and we had a problem. I wasn't going to be able to last that long. We ended up calling Bruce's buddy Henry to watch Steve until my parents arrived. Henry was not a 'kid person' but Steve didn't seem to notice.

Things progressed as they should and soon I was in the delivery room pushing like crazy. I remember someone saying "it's a girl!" and my response was 'oh! That's JUST what I wanted!" We were delighted to have a daughter. When she was brought to me a short time later, she was wrapped tightly in a pink blanket and she looked like a tiny pink peanut. We felt like the tiny little girl needed a tiny little name so we named her Amy. Her middle name is Catherine after her Aunt Katherine. She didn't have much hair, but what we could see seemed to be red. My dad was SO excited to have a little red-headed granddaughter. He called her 'red-in-the-head'. Steve seemed to accept this new addition to our family without a lot of problem, so that was good. We settled into our life as a family of four. We installed seat belts in the tiny back seat of my 1956 Nash Metropolitan so the kids would be safe. It wasn't a law back then, but I was always diligent when it came to my children's safety. We would pile the two kids in the back of the Metro and head south to Ventura on most weekends.

Amy was a good baby, and very mild mannered (especially in comparison to Steve). When Bruce graduated from college and went to work for the Federal Highway Administration we began a 2 year training program, moving our family 4 times to 4 different states in those first 2 years. By necessity, long car trips were a big part of her early years and Amy took it all in stride. She was a trouper from the get-go.

We didn't have much money in those early years so I made a lot of the kids clothes. T-shirts and shorts were my specialty. For recreation we would go to parks and for special occasions we would go to McDonald's. Amy's hair was a little slow in coming in so I made her a shirt that said "NO! I'm a girl!". I thought it was hilarious.

Amy is more like her dad than she is like me. She is sensitive and smart and a true athlete. Sometimes we've clashed a little over the years but I think that's normal for mom's and daughters. She does have some of my traits like my 'just do it' nature. If she needs to make something or do something she never has before, she just thinks it through and then goes for it. I got that from my mom and I believe Amy got it from me.

One of the big joys of her life has been sports. She plays tennis, soccer, swims and can exercise in the gym for long stretches without getting tired. Even when her weight was up she was still in better shape than most people. She has had to curtail her sports somewhat since having knee surgery last year, but I don't count her out. She'll figure out a way to keep active.

She has a gift for languages and speaks Thai very well. She also speaks a good amount of Spanish.

She's a great mom to Ben and Ryann. They are both exceptional kids and Amy and her husband Shane are the reason why. She goes to nearly every game the kids have (they are both in soccer and basketball) and supports them in every way. She has taught her children well and I'm proud of her for that.

My daughter Amy has grown into a beautiful, strong and thoughtful woman. I'm very proud of the person she is. Happy Birthday, my sweet little peanut.