Happy Birthday Anissa!

The temperatures are headed towards 60 today, with cloud cover and a shot of rain possible both today, and tomorrow.  The grimy snows are melting...hopefully most will be gone soon, so I can clean up the yard a bit, before the next snow storm(you know it's gonna happen) hits.  I made an attempt to break up the sidewalk ice yesterday, and mainly got a pulled shoulder muscle for my efforts.  I hope that both the ice and pain will be gone by the weekend.

Headed for Van Wert last night...finally got a baseball rules meeting in.  I am required to get four local meetings plus the state rules session to stay licensed....I usually try to get 6 or 7 locals in, never good or experienced enough that you cannot learn something new, or improve yourself.  I have also been named to the training staff for a local area umpiring class coming up in mid March...will work the batting cage in the morning and work the video in the afternoon session.  No payment, but it counts as a meeting with a free lunch, which is more than enough for me.

Anissa turns 32____

On a cold, snowy day, February 17, 1979, my wife, Patricia, went into labor...and despite her pleas that she wasn't really in that state, I piled her into the Jeep Cherokee, and drove the 12 miles through the snow to the Wausau South Hospital.  The delivery room doctor was late, but at around 6pm Anissa Louise Houseworth was born anyway.  Today she is celebrating her 32nd birthday.

Anissa seemed to be a normal child as we moved from Wisconsin to Indiana, then to Dodge City Kansas, and finally my radio days brought me back to Celina...I guess we were so busy moving, working, and maybe in denial, that we never realized that Anissa was just not developing at the pace she should be.  Once her brother Sam came along in December of 1981...we finally admitted to ourselves that something was seriously wrong with Anisssa's development....made all the more obvious from Sam's quick development.  He was able to read, write and play along with game shows on the tube, by the time he was 2.  We finally took Anissa to Dayton, and at the age of 3 it was pronounced to us that she was indeed "retarded".

"Ness" would live her life never reaching her full "normal" potential.  Now at 32, despite of adult age, she is still a child at heart and in mind.  Not to worry though, she has great individuals to help her along, and she continues to be a major focus of Patricia and my life.  Forever 5 years old in some ways, but smart as a whip in others.  She can watch a movie and then when watching it the next time, can tell you each word the actors are going to say, before they say it.  Her music favorites are Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffet, getting those from her old man of course.  Her movie favorites include "Stuart Little 2" and "Drop Dead Fred"...she is in love with the American Flag, and has hundreds of "Bennie Toys".  

She now lives in her own house{which she refers to as an apartment} on the other side of town.  She has a roommate and a crew to keep an eye on her activities 24/7.  She spends some of the weekend hours with us, and attends an adult day care center and the Cheryl Ann Workshop.   Despite all the trials, she is, for the most part, a happy adjusted person, who, like the rest of us, has good days and some bad ones.  If all goes well, even after we are gone, she has the people in place, including her youngest brother Hal and his bride Lisa, to make sure to make sure she is loved and cared for through the rest of her life.  Happy Birthday Anissa!
 
An early double header at the McKirnan 7th grade tournament tonight in Celina tonight.  4 o'clock starts my 2 games...Celina vs Delphos St. Johns, followed by Fort Recovery against St. Marys...4 teams I have done multiple times,. so I expect no surprises.   Tomorrow night at Wapak for a JV game vs Kenton, then Saturday, we drop Reagan off at the Pet Center, and head for Fairborn for the Hal/Lisa reception.

back later>>>

Photos-top/left...the Houseworth clan at Hal's wedding last weekend in West Virginia...February 18, 1979, me and the 1 day old Anissa in the Wausau(Wisconsin) South Hospital,  With her mom at Granpa/Grandma Callies house in Wisconsin...and with our original Airedale "Rags" at our Kokomo, Indiana, apartment in 1980.