The Family Story

With this I promise to make you smile, cry, and want to hug your family.  But most of all I want you to think about what you have and who is really important to you.  Not friends, co-workers, or acquaintances, but your family. The ones who will come to see you when you’re sitting in a jail and you’re as guilty as a priest.  The ones who fart in bed and waft the covers so you can join in their experience.  The ones, who really know everything about you, love you anyways, and they really just love you.  So here we go, and hang on ‘cause I’m probably going to gently jerk a few tears from your already moist eyes. 

First I have to tell you all about my oldest, Tatiania.  She is beautiful, kind, and gentle.  She loves her whole family and is not afraid to show it.  Tatiania is the definition of KIND.  She has barely a mean bone in her whole body and she is so very quick to point out the good in people.  She is one I can trust to pray for the whole family as I put her to bed, and her mannerisms are as easy going as a quiet babbling brook.  She is the reason I try to be a better person and never let her down.  I love our weekly talks when she asks if I took any bad guys to jail. 

Then there is my youngest daughter, Selena.  Most would call her stubborn and everyone that knows my family knows where she gets that.  But if you only took a passing glance you’d be wrong.  For it’s not stubborn, but STURDY.  That is the only way to describe her.  She sets her mind on something and she will not wavier.  I am so thankful for this because I know when she grows to be a young woman, she will use this attribute to her advantage.  No one will ever press her into doing wrong because she will set her heart on the fair and just way and that will be the only way.  She has more WILL than a team of sled dogs and more determination than a gold prospector.  She is my rock and the reason I will not give in or ever stop fighting for my family or for what is right. 

Finally, there are my baby boys.  Just so you know I have to wipe away tears as I struggle to write this, and I can’t count the times I haven’t been able to see the keyboard.  But, to understand the boys you have to know how they earned their names.  The Doctor called to say there was a problem with the blood test and that he needed mom to come in to find out what could be wrong.  The test showed Spina Bifida.  I can’t  imagine how difficult it would be for a young family to have this diagnosis, but we were scared to death.  The Doctor took one look at Mom’s belly and said, “It’s not a problem.  It’s two babies”.  Mom heard that there was not going to be one baby, but two babies, and she cried.  I stood there relieved and terrified all at the same time.

After only seven months in, the boys were still cooking - not quite ready.  But they decided that it was time to make their escape.  No doubt excited to meet a family so huge.  The family tree is limitless.  But the Doc said, “No.”,  and then put Mom in the hospital.  In bed she would stay - at least when no one was looking.  Mom spent Christmas alone with her boys, except for the occasional visit from friends and family.  But for the most part, she was alone with her boys.

Then, five weeks too early, they decided it was time to make their escape.  They kicked and knocked until the Doc said, “Okay, let’s do it”.  He opened mom up and before she knew it there were two new screaming boys;  time to buy a bigger car, again.  Everything looked good for a minute or two; then came the wheezing.  The  boys were separated, and neither breathing well.  Dad stood by helpless, lonely, and afraid.   The Doc said they needed to be moved.  The bigger of the boys was put into a clear plastic box, pumped full of fresh air.  He cried and wheezed, still not able to breathe.  The little one was in his own box wheezing and unable to breathe.  Then Doc decided they needed a safer place; more machines to keep watch and more hands to poke and prod.  Both boys were then put into the same box, both crying until the little one heard a familiar voice.  He stopped crying, stopped wheezing, and opened his eyes real wide and looked at his bigger brother.  Big brother was not able to breath and the little one just looked at him with strength in his eyes as if to say, “You cry brother.  I’ll keep a look out.  I’ll keep you safe”.  And off they went, one crying, wheezing, and one focused and watchful. 

The bigger one was beautiful, stout, and a little frail.  He looked so powerful and thick he got the name Emmanuel, “God With Us”.  His bodyguard is small, quick, watchful, and attentive.  He is the commander of the guardian angels “Gabriel”,  sent to care for and keep his younger brother.  This is how they earned their names and even after three years we are still learning their personalities.  Emmanuel is almost always happy and will give anyone a huge hug.  Gabriel, a little more shy, but still loves to sing to the Lord. Both are becoming my little prayer warriors.  Both love to be held by their mommy and will do anything for a kiss from her.  People ask, “How do you handle twins”?  It’s easy. You just do it, because there is no one else and the love you get from them is worth all the effort.

Then there is MFHA, My Favorite Heart Ache.  Karen Lindsey Munoz.  Stubborn is not enough to explain the unbreakable will of this woman.  She is so confident in everything she does and never shows fear.  She is quick to take up a cause and will run to the earth’s end.  She pushes herself harder than anyone I have ever met.  If she wants to accomplish something, she will.  She is the very reason I have to be the best and she will not accept less from me.  But if I do fail, she is quick to defend me and has a million reasons why I didn’t or couldn’t.  It would be best to never step in her way and if you cross her, prepare to feel her wrath.  She will never forget what you have done.  To know her is to realize this is only a mask she uses to hide her hurt, pain, and disappointment.  She can be easily swayed to love you again if she knows you still, and have always loved and cared.  Karen is tough and playful.  However, I get to see the vulnerable side no one ever sees.  That makes me feel like the most special man in the entire world.  I thank you, Karen, for that. 

This is just a glimpse of my family, and a vapor of thought that flows through my mind every second of every day.  Oh, how I hope you can find this happiness.  There truly is nothing than can ever beat it. 

Jr Munoz