Happy THANKSgving

     Today is Thanksgiving, one of my favorite days of the year. Since it is the holiday, and most of my followers of this blog are family, I am going to make this one a bit of a personal one. To begin with what has inspired me for this blog with my elders, it was the thought that runs 100 miles an hour in my head, what have all these men and ladies gone through in life? Think about it. When I used to work at a grocery store, I always liked to wonder what burden the customers were carrying around with them as they were getting their shopping done. No matter how good life gets, there is always something to stress over. We all ultimately become the person that we are destined to become, and I think that that is because of experiences. Today, I would like to open up on why today is so special to me and the experiences that brought me to this.

June 23, 2015

   This is one of the most memorable days of my life. For those of you who do not know, I have 2 sons. My son that I birthed, and my stepson. All in all, they are both MY babies. We had 50/50 custody of our son EZT, and had just spent Fathers Day with him. We knew we were going to get him on Wednesday, or so we thought so, and then Tuesday came. This day is the day when my husband and I learned that our son, EZT, had moved to Florida on Monday. Just like that, gone.

     If anyone has gone through anything similar to this, then you know how hopeless it is in the court system when it comes to a fathers rights. How could this really be happening? What could we have ever done so awful in this world that we were being punished? Time went on, and visitations were limited. (If you live more than 100 miles apart from the custodial parent, then you only get 1 weekend a month. That means 2 days of flying all day, and 1 day to relax.) We hired an AMAZING lawyer, and it was game time.

     Horrible encounters, an ocean full of tears, endless cry's out to God, it seemed like we were never going to see light. As we were preparing for court, all we could think was "if we lose, we lose him. But, at least hopefully one day he will know that we tried EVERYTHING to have a relationship with him".

July, 2016

     After a ten hour court session took place, 2 weeks passed by, and then we get a call from our lawyer. "In the best interest of EZT, his residence is to be restricted to Lubbock County." We won! We fought hard, prayed hard, cried hard, and then we won! Some people like to make fun of my faith, but when you are in a hopeless situation and you have nothing else but to trust in Him, then you will understand how great He is. Life is a roller coaster. I do my best to try and understand why everyone does what they do. Some things can't be explained. This Thanksgiving we do not have him, but my heart is full at the thought that we saw him earlier this week. That now, we get to have him multiple days WEEKLY!

     Today I am thankful for my family, my Casarez side, Ramirez side, and Testerman side. If it weren't for them, and our God, my husband and I would never be able to have the pleasure of watching our son grow up, his first football game, his first day of school, meeting his first girlfriend, having the relationship that every parent should with their children. I have always heard the saying "there is nothing stronger than a mothers love", but I find that to be false. After this past year, my husband proved that a "daddy's love" is just as strong. Today, love your family, look around and see all that you are fortunate for. I apologize for the sobby post, and that it was not about my elders today, but I felt that today it was necessary. (Sorry Dr. Langford!!!!!!!) I did not finish what I am thankful for, I am thankful for Texas Tech University, all of the professors whom I have grown to love. I am thankful for my boys. They get on my nerves and drive me up the wall, but there is nothing that makes my heart smile than hearing their sweet laughs together. Lastly, I am thankful for my husband. I could go on and on about him, but I am going to make this short, sweet and to the point. Thank you for always being my rock, my supporter, and my best friend. I love cruising through life with you! Count your blessings y'all!
My little family.

Much love,
Jordan Testerman and family