Derrick is our one and only biological child. He entered this world on August 10, 1994. He came in quietly, a little too quietly, and my heart stopped beating. When he finally took his first breath and let out a cry, it started beating again and has been filled with love, admiration and awe over him ever since. He spent the first 11 days of his life in the hospital, 7 of those in NICU. Even though he wasn’t at home, he was never alone. My mom and dad went and stayed with him when Todd and I couldn’t be there. There were probably a grand total of 45 minutes when he was without a family member there at the hospital with him.
Over the years, he’s grown into a wonderful young man who has strong convictions, stands up for what he believes in and takes his role as big brother very seriously. He is always looking out for the underdog and would take in every homeless animal in the world if he could. He’s a cat person, which is something I have had to get used to over the years, being a dog person myself. His hair color changes with his mood (it’s currently a beautiful bright blue after many months of being very blonde) but his heart never does; he is one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet. He’s very sarcastic, which he gets straight from me, and super smart; also something he gets from me. J
Derrick is an extremely talented musician. He plays the guitar, ocarina, piano, keyboard, drums, pan flute, as well as many other instruments and writes his own music and lyrics. This is not something he gets from me; this talent comes straight from his dad. I can’t carry a tune in a bucket. He has an old soul and it is most apparent in his lyrics about life and love. He has such great insight and will one day make the most amazing husband and father.
He has taken to being a brother very naturally. He loves all of his sisters, even if he does sometimes need to hide in his room and play video games. Now that we have Chris, he has someone to commiserate with about the amount of estrogen in our house. He was over the moon happy when the judge granted us custody of Chris. “I have a brother now!” was exclaimed with one of the biggest smiles he’s ever had.
He’s a deep thinker who feels things completely and loves unconditionally. I’ve watched him get hurt so many times and wished he would just walk away from the person hurting him, but because they were in need, he just couldn’t. He is super shy on the one hand, but always there and ready to help out family and friends on the other. He is selective in his friendships and knows the value of having a few great, true friends over hundreds of acquaintances.
He is my heart and I couldn’t love him more if I tried.
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