Dear Erin: A Letter From Louisiana Mayrah In Tennessee
by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Rated "G" by the Author.
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Louisiana responds to yet another woman's letter, a woman who has adopted children with special needs.
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 Wednesday, September 22, 2004, 3:58 pm., C.S.T.~
Dear Erin:
Thank you for your entertaining letter; it was good to hear from you! Thank you for writing!
My name is Louisiana Sandusky, and I am 35 years old. I have lived in Nashville, Tennessee, for about 11 years; before that time, we made our home in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. I was born there; and I got married there, too, but after the death of our third child (we had previously lost two), we decided that we needed a different place to live because Louisiana was proving to be too much for us to bear. We were having too much go wrong, and we were on the verge of divorcing. It seemed that our world came crashing down, and there was nothing but heartache for us in Louisiana, so we left; we ended up in the hills of Tennessee, where we have been ever since.
I am very short: I am only 4 1/2' tall, but I am heavy-set: I resemble the shape (and size) of a beach ball! LOL I have long, black hair, black eyes, and have dark skin. I walk on a cane because of ongoing back troubles and degenerative arthritis. People find me to be very talkative; if given a chance, I could probably talk your ear off! LOL
My husband, on the other hand, is the complete opposite: oh, he is dark, too, with dark hair and eyes, but he is tall, very tall: he is nearly 7' tall (in fact, he is 6' 9 1/2" tall!), and he is very skinny. He resembles a long pole! LOL He was born in North Carolina, in the "holler", as he puts it, and he is the third youngest of nine kids (ALL boys!), PLUS he is a twin!
Both my husband and myself work: I work at a local hospital (Nashville Memorial), where I am a registered nurse (RN), and my husband works as a "greeter" at the Wal*Mart near our place. We both love our jobs, and we get a lot of satisfaction interacting with the general population. Through our jobs we have met many interesting people from all walks of life, and we enjoy talking with people! We also enjoy helping people whenever the time calls for it, and we are ones who would bend over backwards to help someone in need!
We have kids, too, as you read in the article. We have adopted 50 kids (WHY, we still can't answer that one! LOL), but it's gotten to the point to where we can't imagine our family without any of the kids. They have all established themselves into our hearts and home, and they are our greatest joy! God has blessed us by bringing us kids nobody else would even consider adopting: kids with special physical, mental, or emotional needs, kids older than the age of two years, or kids that are part of a sibling group; or kids who are racially mixed or are of different races. Yet, we don't see the differences, no matter how obvious they may be--all we see are our children, and we try to treat them as normally as possible!
Our kids come from all over the globe: Africa (Kenya), Europe (Germany, France, Bosnia-Hergozovina, the Netherlands), Asia (Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Korea, Japan), the Middle East (Iran), and the Americas (the United States, Canada, Mexico, South and Central America), and they have all since assimilated themselves into our family and have turned into great kids with winning personalities. Oh, they have their moments where they can get into trouble or mischief, but they are only kids, and we shouldn't expect them to behave themselves ALL of the time! LOL
Our kids are named: Ronee' Le-Anne, Gemini, Deborah, Enriquesa, Monica, Christiana, Rhiannon, Gloria, Heather, Jameela, Sunshine Lee, Trude, Sylvia, Jodie, Starlight Melody, Louise, Elise, Loueva, LaVella, Danita, Tammi, Camey, Kecia, Summer Song, Gisele, Barbara, Stephanie, Tanya, Dwerlina, Tanya, Melizza, Michelle, Megan, and Lightning (the girls), and Johnathon (Johnny), Andre', Anh Kim, Richard, Michael, Porter, Todd, Jo-El, Mario, Tri Tich Anh, Tran Nguyen, Jeraldo, Roberto, Kwame', Sergei, and Benjamin (the boys). (I had to look at my list to get their names listed; seems that I forgot some of their names! I guess it was bound to happen; after all, we only have 50 kids! Just a few! Nothing major....LOL Yeah, RIGHT.! LOL)
Thank you for telling us about yourselves; Idaho IS pretty country! We have been through your neck of the woods when we went through to go to California; and we loved the way the Idahoans treated us! Y'all sure have some friendly folk up that away! I also loved the mountainous terrain, and I loved the purity of the air; such fresh breezes! Ahhh, I still can smell them in my mind! LOL I hope you can come to Tennessee one day; we would LOVE to have you come and visit! We would be more than happy to put you up! (Or we could find a motel close by if that is what you prefer. Either way, we would love to have you come by if you ever come to Nashville!) I am glad that you found the article about our family interesting; heck, we ARE an interesting bunch, if you do say so! LOL
Well, Erin, I have gone on for far too long; I have to see if I can get a hold of Louise in California: seems that she wrote to me, but I haven't been able to see her letter because it appears that she is having computer problems. So I will try to answer her! (I also have other letters to answer besides Louise's!) I will write more next time; thank you again for gracing my mailbox with your warm, friendly letter! Do write again soon!
~Most sincerely yours,
Your new friend in Tennessee, Louisiana Mayrah. :)
P.S.: I enjoyed reading about the skiing. I never could get the hang of it! I tried, but it proved to be too hard on my body, so I vowed that I would never put on another pair of skis or ski boots again! I spent more time on my arse than on my skis; and I gave up after a while! Plus I about froze my Cajun arse off! LOL No, Cajuns were NOT meant to be skiers! LOL
~Louie.
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| Reviewed by P. Michaels |
9/24/2004 |
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Karen, she runs a childrens home. Fifty children! You're sure crafting your skills for letter writing. Good one.
Love, Patty |
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| Reviewed by Susan Barton |
9/23/2004 |
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| bless you and louisianna |
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| Reviewed by Safi Abdi |
9/23/2004 |
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Woman might be short but she sure has a large heart:) 50 children? remarkable! And she is a nurse...what a respectable profession! And the husband is a "greeter", like that very much...I salute this family with the Muslim: AsSalamu alaikum! "peace to you".
Nice write, heartwarming, thank you, sister Karen! Safi
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| Reviewed by Tinka Boukes |
9/22/2004 |
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Beautiful write Karen!!
Love Tinka |
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| Reviewed by Peter Paton |
9/22/2004 |
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Well presented and professionally crafted story , Karen...
You have an extraordinary talent , Karen for self expression...never neglect it...work hard on it always...
Love and best wishes
Peter |
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| Reviewed by Michelle Kidwell Power In The Pen |
9/22/2004 |
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Karen
Another excellent story as always
God Bless
Michelle~ |
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| Reviewed by Karla Dorman, The StormSpinner |
9/22/2004 |
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(((karen)))
beautiful write from a heart with a lot of love to give--50 times over LOL--well done!
(((HUGS))) and love, karla. :) |
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