Do You Believe a Love Could Run So Strong? by Brandi

I have attached a picture of my family. The one picture is of my oldest son, Stephen; me; my stepson, Will Jr.; and my husband, Will Sr., and the separate picture is of my 12-year-old son, Derek. I couldn’t find a good picture of all of us together, so I sent a picture from my stepson’s graduation; my youngest son didn’t get to come because he was in school and the graduation was out of town. Anyway, now for a little bit about my life.

Even though I was only in Slidell for the last 2 1/2 years of high school, I made some memories and some great friends (Mary, Kennitha, and Lynn, to name a few). After graduation, I moved back to Texas, where I met my husband of 17 years, Will. Together we have 3 great sons: my 21-year-old son, Stephen; his 19-year-old son, Will Jr.; and our 12-year-old son, Derek. So we have a “his, mine, and ours” family and we couldn’t be closer.

Stephen is a junior in college: he’s very athletic, he works a full-time job, and he has his own apartment. (Boy, is it hard when your baby grows up.) Will Jr. was just accepted into the Army and plans to do combat medic after he survives boot camp. Derek is in the sixth grade and very into athletics; he plays football, basketball, and baseball. We are very proud of our children.

Of course, many may do the math and realize that Stephen was born during our junior year, so I missed much of that year doing home school: god forbid a pregnant girl goes to school... LOL. But I have to say that he is one of the best things to happen in my life, and I would be lost without him. Thanks to the support of my great parents and friends, I was able to complete high school and go on to further my studies.

I have been working at a local hospital for the last 10 years as an administrative assistant, and I serve on the city council in our town. My husband is a welder/pipe fitter at a chemical plant in Houston and a volunteer fire fighter. We live in Splendora, Texas, just north of Houston. Our family enjoys spending a lot of time at the lake in the new, fully rigged Stratos bass/ski boat that I won last year in a raffle. It has been great fun for us all!

Anyway, I can’t wait to see everyone at the reunion and am ready to get reacquainted and party with my buds! If anyone would like to contact me, you can email me: I would love to hear from you! My prayers are with all my classmates, friends, and their families who were devastated by Katrina. Just try to remember that what doesn’t break us only makes us stronger.

[Editor’s note: please email me, krisfrom86@yahoo.com, so I can send you Brandi’s address. I want to spare her and everyone from the kind of spam that results from putting your email address on a blog.]