The Beginning

The Beginning

I was born in 1959 in St. Louis , Missouri. I used to like to tell my nieces that the Barbie Doll was made out of the image of me, since it was created in 1959 too. When they said you don't look like a Barbie Doll , I would tell them well see that's what happens to Barbie when you let her have too much fried chicken, it worked for a while lol.My parents were from southern Missouri there fore I spent a lot of time in the "country". I've been through a lot in my life .. so here it goes my biography. in pictures and words. I refer to it as A.W. (after wreck) because I lost a lot of memories due to the wreck , oh I remember camping with my mom and dad and cousins , days on end in the country , taking a bath in the river, using the outhouse. ewwwww... and long summer nights spent looking out my grandmas window at the stars. But for the most part a lot of my memories were lost. So this is what I do remember.. After the wreck.

My Oldest sister, My next to the oldest sister, My niece, Mom & Me

My Wreck

A big milestone happened to me on July 7, 1976, I had a wreck on my motorcycle,. I had ridden bikes since I was 10, but on that day everything changed. I was found face down on the side of the road my heel of my left leg was on the back of my left shoulder. I had a compound fracture of my left femur, Meaning the bone in my upper leg had broke out of the skin. I had a hole in my helmet the size of a softball, which only means a head injury , they got me in the ambulance for a two hour plus drive to Springfield , Mo . My dad rode along. I was totally unconscious so all of this has been related to me from the E.M.T.'s and my parents. On the way to the hospital I flat lined three times . When they finally got me into E.R. at the hospital , they told my dad I would never walk again . If I did it would be with out one leg. They wanted to amputate. That was un acceptable for my Dad . Thank God he was there to fight for me . For a little more than a week I was in a coma . The end evaluation was,: broken clavicle , broken jaw, broken vertebrae , chipped hip and a head injury that would leave me paralyzed for almost a year. My Mother stayed every single day in the hospital with me God Bless her . I had to learn to walk talk ,,,, everything all over again . And I'm not a good patient , I look back now and I don't know how she did it .. the month in the hospital, going home and having to stay in traction and the endless home therapy . She was truly a Saint! My cousin was working at Silver Dollar City in Branson at the time as an Engineer, He and all his coworkers gave blood for me .. God Bless them too.

You cant really tell now that I've been paralyzed but the scars are evident and when I get tired I do tend to favor that leg, and it is a bit well not normal lol .. but hey it's a leg and its MY leg! It could be worse . And I thank God every day for my funny looking leg.

Here I have a pin through my knee that is attached to weights to pull it apart where the bone was broke into pieces. My jaw was broken as well as my clavicle and a vertebrae in my back and a small fracture in my neck that they hadn't even found yet

Graduation

After a year of home tutoring due to the wreck I was able to graduate with my class and walk up there and get my diploma! There was never a thought in my head that I wouldn't! After graduation I moved back to the country and lived with a room mate named Mary Jo in my mom and dads house. We worked in town and Dad had bought me a 72 Grand Prix , 400 4bl Dual Exhaust Glass Packs ..yup we had fun. We washed our clothes on an old wringer washer and had to climb the telephone pole to rig the phone up so we could call out! We had wood heat and lots of parties.. to which admission was bring in an arm load of wood and your own drinks! yup we had fun.

Moving back to the City

I then tired of living in the country moved back to the city with my parents and went to school to be a medical assistant while working 10 hr shifts at K Mart ( attention K Mart shoppers the flashing blue light is in home improvements for the next 5 minutes!) I graduated from school and got a job in the medical field. My mom and dad retired and literally when I came home one day they had moved off and left me ..lol ..With them living in the country and me in the city ... good job .. lots of money . I went wild and had the time of my life. I finally quit working at K mart (and we thank you for shopping at our South County K Mart) and went steady at the med. center no weekends at the stores just the med field. I got into a bit of trouble and decided it was time to go home .. again .. with mom and dad getting older they did need my help .

Dad asked me to come home so once again I packed up and moved back home. Knowing there weren't any jobs here I came home anyway. I've never regretted it ..... much... lol.. I then met a man got pregnant with twin girls, It was a difficult pregnancy, and ultimately lost the girls at 9 months. Fully developed twins girls. I named one Jacki LaVerne after my mom and dad ie: Jack and Laverne, their father named the other one Toni Renee' . Due to the fact that they died like they did it made me physically sick and when they were buried , on my birthday , I was in the hospital still. My nephews Ricky and Randy were pall bearers, and had I been able to be there and arrange the funeral, I would not have had it any other way. Needless to say that damn near killed me mentally and physically, and I have never really been the same .

I then decided to get married .. I mean after all we did have the twins together . We got married the day before deer season , which is a holiday here, my maid of honor was my friend who was wanted by the police for shooting a friend of ours foot off .. and the best man was drunker than a coot! We found them in town and convinced them to go with us to the judges house and stand up with us to get married! ( is this hilarious or what?) There were no wedding pictures no white gowns and flowers .. I wore a white gauze blouse and jeans and cowboy boots and he had a shirt and jeans on. We didn't even tell our parents. My honeymoon was spent with friends on a gravel bar on the river woooooohoooooo.. the next morning was deer season and Doc my new husband was awaken by my dad at 4 in the morning to go hunting ..lol...... and he went!

When my nephew Randy was 20 he was in school in Kansas City and would come home for weekends he was the baby boy I never had ...Every Sunday he came over for dinner and we would watch Lonesome Dove. We both loved that movie. He told me if he ever had a kid he was naming it Augustus McCray, after Gus on the movie. Three weeks before turning 21 he was in a wreck that killed him . His girlfriend was two months pregnant , We now have a girl that looks and acts just like Randy .. same demeanor, same blue eyes.. her name is Allison McCray

Allison at her highschool prom

In loving memory of Marvin Randall Mooney Nov. 30 1970- Nov.9 1991

This is Halloween , Mine and Dads favorite holiday. Every year he helped me with costumes these are just two of them uncle fester with a lighted bulb in my mouth ( dad concocted that) and the clown, all day I would walk through the woods and come out behind the trees in the middle of nowhere when a car was coming down the road ..lol you should have seen the faces on people , Dad loved it

Dad never got over loosing his only granddaughters it bothered him more than we could ever know . He became ill and bed ridden and Mom and I took care of him and Doc took care of the place. On Halloween ( me and dads favorite holiday) he was in the hospital very sick and we received news that his sister had passed on, what they didn't tell us is that before she went she told her kids she was going home and taking her baby brother with her .. my daddy died that morning Nov 1 at 5 a.m. Mom was devastated. After loosing her granddaughters and her baby grandson and her husband she had a lot of pain as did all of us. She got bit by a brown recluse spider and steadily went down hill until I found myself taking care of her. She died in her sleep , which is the way she said she always wanted to go .. my only solace is that she is with my girls my nephew and my dad.

After mom died I changed and I know I did . . I became more independent and headstrong . Not that I wasn't before I just never had the time to let it out. Now I did and my husband didn't like it one bit . He became very possessive and jealous of me and my pc. Which I'm sure a lot of people can relate to .. but it escalated and got worse and moved from the p.c. to friends. We finally divorced and remain friends.

Now I find myself looking at 42 and as the old saying goes "If I had known I was going to live this long I would have took better care of myself". After just getting over having a hysterectomy it doesn't really bother me that I will never have children , I gave up on that 13 years ago. And now I feel as if I'm almost reborn " all dressed up and no where to go " .. they say here in the hills once you get in them .. its hard to get out ....and I have found that to be very true.

Well that is my life so far, not any wild glamorous exciting times but its not over yet .. I figure God had me once and sent me back for something, and one day soon I will venture out and see what that something is. I've never believed my life was destined to be a housewife with a white picket fence and growing old in a rockin chair .. Not sure what its supposed to be , but I'll find it .. One day.

If you get anything out of my life story its to look around .. its not so bad .. it could be worse you know, :by me

"It's not the cards your dealt in life , its how you play your hand" :by me

"You don't know lonely till its chiseled in stone". :Verne Gosdin

Part Two: 2003

Wow has a lot changed, Doc, My Ex Husband got burned real bad and had to move back in with me, We are making it ok better than we did the first time I guess considering all that has taken place over the last few years.

My Sister ( the blonde one in the picture above) passed away in July of this year. I miss her very much, she was in a lot of pain though and I suppose she was here with us long enough , time for her to be with Randy her son. Life goes on.

I'm in college now at Mineral Area College Park Hills Missouri, I'm going to get my Associates anyway in Computer Science, then I will be an "educated idiot" lol.

I like College although I got set back some when my sister got sick, Now its hard to catch up. But I will do it , Cant never did nuttin Dad used to say.

Winter is fast approaching , Deer season is here. Another summer gone. Sitting here looking out my window watching the wind blow the dead leaves off of the trees makes me wonder what the next few years will hold in store. Some times I wish I was a leaf.. not only to be green all summer but to turn beautiful in the fall and blow around with reckless abandon in the early winter.

November 2010-

Well It has been a very long time since I have updated my page. My bestes buddy, city brother and favorite cousin Buford Nichols died. That hurt just as bad as about anything that's happened in my life. I miss him very very much, but as proof of the trials before me, life goes on.

I am on disability now, arthritis in every previously broken bone in my body makes it difficult to get around. 2 years ago I had my left knee replaced and this year I will have my rt. one replaced. Not much else has changed other than Doc and I getting along better he has his room and I have mine. I really don't know how I could do it with out him. He has been a God send at times, Not going to say all the time but ..some of the times =0)