,  Just as with Heather, where do we begin? We had only Bill for two years and we wanted another baby, so Bill would not grow up alone. When Bill and I joined your dad in Germany in 1955, I had several bad episodes with kidney infections. At first, the doctors said I should not have any more children, but he decided to let us go on and try and he said he would watch me closely throughout the pregnancy. Much unlike Bill, you were not to become a reality for some time. It took over a year for me to become pregnant. The doctor told me that I could eat anything I wanted, because I was so thin, and perhaps I would keep some of the weight after you were born. I put on 50 pounds during the pregnancy and, as always, lost all of it within a couple of months.

The pregnancy was uneventful, and then the morning I woke up and said "this was the day," your Dad took me to the hospital at Bitburg Air Force Base. I was in there almost 12 hours, again with the contractions being five minutes apart from the beginning. You have heard this story many times, but I was so exhausted, that finally toward delivery time, I could not push anymore and the nurse got up with all of her 300 pounds that she was packing and starting pushing on my stomach, as she was saying "you are not having this baby, I am having it for you." What is it with nurses and me, I wonder? Well, the problem was your shoulders, they were so large. All one has to do today is just look at you and they can see what I am talking about, right? The day was also a Tuesday and you were born at 8:35 a.m. and the doctor (Schildwaechter) said that you were a big healthy boy, and again, I asked "does he have all ten fingers and toes?" The doctor said you did and then we found out that you weighed 8 lbs. 7 3/4 oz., 20 inches long and chest of 14 inches. You also had red hair and blue eyes. You were spoiled rotten from the gitgo.

Mona and Jim Graddy were your godparents and they said you were a mess, a character from the beginning, with mischief written all over your face. They did nothing but smile when they looked at you. Then, when we came back to the states from Germany a few months later, I was pregnant with Ron, bigger than a barn and carrying you and your Dad had a cast on his leg from an accident. We drove across the country to our next station, and you and Bill were good travelers, just as your daughters are today.

You had chicken pox at the age of 6 months, and your dad caught them from you, but that is the only disease that I put in your baby book. You were always into something when you were little, the only one who fell on the lawn mower blade and cut your leg so badly, needed stitches, broke your arm, got into rat poison and had to have your stomach pumped, etc., and it was always to the emergency room with you, it seemed. They gave you the nickname of "Les, the Mess," and "Dennis the Menace." In your baby book, it says "life gets more and more interesting. There are many things I like to do, but best of all I like to get into mischief." You survived those accident prone years and did well in school, and played the trumpet in the concert band. I always remembered you saying over the years that when you attended Paul and Ellen's wedding, that when the music began in the background for Ellen to march down the aisle and it was a trumpeter, the hair stood up on the back of your neck. You will find the "Echo Taps" with trumpets on the military cemetery on this site to be special to you, I am sure.

This is one that you probably don't want your daughters to know about. The time when "streaking" was the fashion, and you streaked over the Gandy Bridge. And, the time that you and your best friend, Bob, went to your rival high school and sprayed their black panther with pink paint. Bob dropped his wallet and they caught you both later, didn't they? Of course, I never knew about those episodes until many years later. One of your most memorable childhood memories, from what I remember, was the time you went to the Boy Scout Summer Session at Camp Philmont out west. You graduated from Robinson High and you were determined that you were going into the army and become a military policeman, and you did just that.

Remember when your grandmother Josey and I drove your old mustang up to your graduation from boot camp, and we were almost asphyxiated along the way because there was something wrong with your car? Then, you were stationed in Alaska, where you met your wife to be, Janet Kelly. Jan's dad was a company commander in the air force, and you were an enlisted man in the army. What a combination. You were the first one of the four sons to get married, and you wanted us all to be there, but we were scattered everywhere. Yet, we managed to surprise you with Margie, your dad, Ron, Paul and me all coming in on one plane and then Bill coming in on another plane from Hawaii, so we all arrived in Anchorage at the same time. That was no small feat to pull off. You were so thrilled to see all of us that everyone in the airport could hear you squealing with surprise. Your wedding was beautiful and we were so glad we could all be together.

Over the years, it has been great to go to Alaska on five different occasions to see you guys. It is always nice to have you all come down here every other year too. You went on and got your degree in computer sciences and you now have a job that you really enjoy, supervising a customer service group, and that is quite rewarding, monetarily too, but more than anything else, you found your niche with the job. We could not be happier for you guys. One of your strong points, Les, is that you have a very compassionate personality and would give the shirt off of your back to anyone. You have made us very proud of you.

Love you, Mom and Dad