C.J.

Just to give some background before I really start this blog. C.J. was born in February of '96. I was so completely overwhelmed at the time of his birth.I was alone when I went into labor. My mom & my sister came over at like 3 in the morning to sit with me and time contractions and such. In the delivery room, my sister, my mom, and my friend Jessica helped me deliver this blonde blue eyed little boy who took forever to be born! I was instantly in love with this amazing little creature. I remember holding him and chanting to myself "Remember this moment. Remember this moment!" When I arrived at the postpartum unit I nursed him and ate a bowl of raisin bran. I was alone with my little man. Something that I was just starting to realize might be the way things could be for us everyday. My husband at the time was out fishing and no one could find him. He eventually showed up the next day, apologizing. The marriage didn't make it, but C.J. and I were OK, we really were. He filled my life completely. We were a team. We sold our place in Magnolia and bought a condo in Beverly. Got our finances under control and had a nice life going for ourselves.C.J. brought out the best in me and I felt confident in raising him. C.J. was smart, energetic, and busy as a little guy. I had to put C.J. in preschool shortly after he turned 3. I was working in Gloucester and I looked at several places. I found one I liked called Woodland Place. It was on Gibbs Hill Drive in West Gloucester. There was teenage boy who worked there and I thought to myself "Great! He needs a male influence in his life." The director named Beth told me his name was R.J. and he was her nephew. I was sold. Well, as it turned out lots of Beth's other relatives went to the preschool (neices, nephews, her own children) and the older neices and nephews worked there. Such a strong famil atmosphere. Beth decided she wanted to fix me up with her cousin. His name was Fran and Beth told me he was really super, and at the very least he would never ever treat me badly. Turns out she was 100 percent right. More about him later. In any event we got married when C.J. was about 4 and a half. After we exchanged rings, Fran presented C.J. with a crucifix on a chain and put it around his little neck as a symbol of commitment and fatherhood. It was really amazing. We began the adoption process shortly after we married. On March 5 th, 2002 Fran legally adopted C.J. and made it official. Now we were all legally Gibbs'. C.J. and Fran have an amazing relationship. C.J. will be 13 soon, its hard for me to believe. He is almost as tall as me ( I still have him beat by 1 1/4 inches!). C.J. is still willing to snuggle with Mom or Dad while watching a movie or a football game on TV. He has a lot of friends and plays football, basketball, and baseball He is a good student and a really nice kid who is kind and helpful to others. We are really proud of our son. 2008 was quite a year for Mr. C.J. More on that later....