Andrew is in someways a typical middle child. Rebellious, Open, Affectionate, Adventurous. Unfortunately, middle children also generally have a lower self-esteem. They are sandwiched between the Leader child and the Spoiled child. They say middle children get noticed less often, so they make waves in order to get attention.
When Andrew was born, he was a very cranky baby. He cried ALOT. He had terrible colic and an allergy to milk. Sadly, he did not like to be held in order to be consoled. That made me very sad and confused. Instead he liked to be in perpetual motion, rocking in his bassinet and rocking in his swing. Somewhere around six months of age, he got over his colic, he started to come out of his cranky stage and turned in to the lovable, adorable child ever since. I have always felt guilty for those first six months, that I could not find that special something that would make him comfortable, make his life more at ease.
As Andy grew into a toddler, he became freakin' ADORABLE and equally mischievous. That has been the case now for the last 24 years! I will spare Andrew the details of his teenage and young adult years being splashed all over these pages, but let's just say, they were quite troublesome! Eventually his troubles led to drug and alcohol use for years.
Andrew is living life these days as he has never experience before. Drug free, and more importantly, living a free life. We cannot even imagine what it is like to be free of the bond that he was under. The incredible will it took to break that bond and come to where he stands today is a testiment to his courage and strength.
Andrew has taken so many steps in such a short time! He has held down the same job for some 6 months now. Andrew now is a roommate to Alex and Lindsay and pays his own way He own a vehicle again and has insurance on it. He pays his cellphone bill every month and is responsible for taking care of his payments to his doctors and payment for medications. These are things we do and take for granted, but Andrew has learned to do in a very short period of time!!! There is not enough praise and glory to go around to express to Andrew how AWESOME his journey has been.
He still has a demon he lives with and has to conquer for each and every day. For when alcohol and drugs are your demon, it belongs to you daily. Because as you go about living a life free and devoid of the problem, ever so innocently, the demon can slide in between the cracks of armour one surrounds one self with. So innocently can one little mistake start a landslide.
Andrew, we all pray for you daily. You have the love and support of your entire family behind you. You are my HERO!!
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