Stories

Our family grows
On July 18th 2008, Violet Elizabeth Lee Carroll entered our world. She is Joey's half sister and is home with her mommy Tonya and daddy John in Amherst NH (about 2 hours from Joey and I). We are all so thrilled that Joey and Violet will have a life together and excited that our family has taken on this new shape and size. Violet looks strikingly like Joey and she is a sweet little bundle of love. Joey was captivated by her when we went to go see her (she was a month old). Prior to her birth, Joey began a fascination with babies - did he know?

I am so grateful that Tonya and John have included Joey and I in their lives, and that we are all a family of love. We are eternally grateful to Niki (and Draven and John) for continuing to grace our lives, every day.

Joey's name
Joseph is my paternal grandfather's name. He lived in Philadelphia and was an optometrist. I didn't know him well, since he died when I was a child. I do have a clear memory of playing in his back yard, there were two concrete steps up to a metal screen screen door, and the house was white.

Lee is Niki's middle name. I am so glad that Joey can carry a piece of her with him always. Lee is also my mother's middle name. Her story is that when her mother (my Grammy Ann) was 12, her mother left her, and Ann went to live with the Hard family. She babysat and did housework for them in exchange for living there. She lived with them through high school and they were very good to her. Mrs. Hard's name was Lee, and my grandmother gave my mother the middle name. And now Niki, Mrs. Hard and my Grammy live on with Joey.

Truman is my maternal grandfather's name. He married my Grammy (Ann). Truman died of polio when my mother was about 13. Grammy was a working single mom, of four kids, for a long time. She was the postmaster for the town of Brookfield MA.