Welcome Back Jason
A lot can happen in one terrific and exciting year’s time. Well…actually, it has been longer than one year since I took a break from writing ADITL for all of you fantastic and inspiring people of the Jasper County.
To be painfully exact—it has been one year, a few months, a couple of days, some hours…and a second or two. Wow – research sucks!
Never-the-less…I have missed you, all of you. I have missed your comments to me about how much you enjoy the stories, and I have missed the excitement of my children’s faces when the weekly paper comes out, and they get to read my take on what happened in our home during the past week.
And so, because you have asked…because my precious children have asked…A Day In The Life continues!
Out of a heart of fairness to our new readers, consisting of those who may have recently moved into our community, as well as those who may have been here for fifty-three years, and just found out that we have a local newspaper with a real knack for wreck carnage photos, big fish, and thrown together with intriguing information on the occasional giant yellow and black wasp of death; I feel the need to offer a little extended information about A Day In The Life.
For you who are well versed on us, and who enjoyed the first three years of this column…this may be a good time to go for buttery popcorn and an ice cold Coca-Cola!
My name is Jason Parr, My beautiful wife’s name is Cheryl (yes, I married above my pay grade). We have six awesome children…Christian (male, 16, therapist says he’s improving nicely), Julieann (female, 14, first indication that Christian’s life would be difficult), Lindsey (female, 12, certifiably nuts, should never be fed ice-cream, best hair in the fam), Mackenzie (female, 9, only one of my children that looks like me, only one of my children who thinks that her father is the UPS guy), and the twins…Gabby and Sophie (unexpected, freaks of nature, main reason for Christian having a therapist).
We have lived in Monticello for 20 years; we home school our children, live on a homestead with free-range chickens, have a lot of hair, grow only organic food, don’t eat meat, will not own a microwave or plastic coffee maker, are suspect of any and every chemical known to man—especially those in our foods, run the Thrift Store on the square, pastor The Church at Monticello; and funny junk goes down in our crazy family.
This column is my opportunity to share those stories with you the reader.
I am overwhelmed by all that has happened over the last year of our life as a family.
There have been many fantastic changes, exciting new beginnings, inspiring dreams fulfilled, new heights reached, and I got a new Boston Terrier puppy for my very own…her name is Ally…she’s perfectly eight months old.
Christian is currently in Austin, Texas with one of his friends, whose name happens to be Austin…and yes…he was named after Austin, Texas.
They flew there on Saturday morning, and it was the first time that Christian has been on an airplane; he loved it. They had clear skies the whole way, and I was eager to hear his account of the sensation provided by traveling at 39,000 feet at 560 miles per hour.
He talked about the awesome power of the engines that forced him back into the seat as the plane raced down the runway, and how it felt as the silver wings engaged the wind, lifting the plane off the tarmac.
Christian went on to describe the blueness of the sky, almost purple at their height, how the curvature of the earth was pronounced, how the land put forth the green and brown squares of pattern as they crossed the ground; and how the same graceful wings fragmented in an effort to increase flight surfaces as the plane made its approach back to earth.
He has a way of explaining events that make you feel like you have never been there before, but want to go. Last we spoke, which was yesterday evening; he had spent the day at a paint ball arena, and finished out daylight in the pool, which has its own waterfall.
Beautiful Julieann is in Atlanta. She is there chasing after a dream that she has carried within herself for quite some time; a dream that I was made aware of last year during our family vacation—and a dream that has radically transformed us as a family.
Next week, I will write of it; for now, I will say that it’s good to be back, I am looking forward to getting back to this column, I hope you enjoy it, and God Bless!