The Journey of Parenthood…

Show Us Your Life – Family

Today on Kelly’s Korner she’s doing the theme of family. Isn’t it fitting that on my son’s birthday I take a moment to appreciate my own wonderful family? I think so! You hear all about Kye and Zach and me all the time here, but aren’t you dying to know more about where I came from? You can thank my parents, Jody and David, for the awesomeness that is Emily! 😉 In my immediate family I also have a younger brother, Brandon, who I love very much.

Mom

My mom, Jody, is one of those naturally born mothers. She was born in Bay City, Michigan and moved to Satellite Beach, Fl the summer before her senior year of high school. She has 5 siblings (she’s the 4th girl followed by 2 boys!) and we’re very close to all of them. Her whole life she dreamed of being a mom and I love that I helped her fulfill that dream! She stayed home with us until I was 9 (when my parents divorced) and I’m beyond thankful for that. She is the reason I feel so passionate about being an at home mom myself. I loved coming home to her each afternoon and sitting together eating snacks and doing homework. Not only is my mom a natural mother, she’s also a natural teacher. After the divorce she actually took over for my Focus (gifted class) teacher who passed away. So she was my mom AND my teacher!

All my friends always loved my mom. She was a “hot mom” and a super fun one too. I have so many wonderful memories from my childhood and about 90% of them have my mom in them. From ice skating accidents, to tree climbing, to luggage carriers falling off the top of our car, my mom has been my rock. I can count on her at ANY time! I remember calling her all the time from my apartment in high school when I was scared. She’d always comfort me and help me feel safe so I could go to sleep (or take a shower…I have a thing about showering when I’m home alone). I’m thankful that during a time in her life when she needed someone to lean on (when my grandma passed away) that I was able to be there for her like she’s always been there for me. My mom taught elementary school for about 15 years. We moved from Lawrenceville, GA to Melbourne, FL when I was 14 and she taught down there until just this past year. In October she left teaching and moved to Valdosta! I LOVE having her so close to me and it brings so much joy to my life to see her with Kye. In case you were wondering, she’s a natural grandma too 🙂

 Dad

My dad, David, was 39 when I was born and I love that my brother and I always keep him young! He was born in Bowdoinham, Maine but moved to Melbourne, Fl as a teen. He has 3 siblings (Uncle Spear who passed away last April then 2 sisters). He traveled quite a bit with his job throughout my childhood but I still have so many fun memories with him. I have always had that “daddy’s girl” sweet spot for my Dad and can’t stand hurting him in anyway. As a little girl he’d tuck me in at night and I’d try so hard not to mess up the covers just in case he’d decide to come in and check on me so he wouldn’t be hurt that they were not how he had left them. I also remember Dad letting Mom sleep in on Saturday mornings by taking Brandon and me out for “long” drives to Burger King. After the divorce my dad moved up to Lake Lanier and we had a BLAST at his house every other weekend. Unlike many weekend-dads my dad did a great job being involved in our lives. He went to all the school functions that he could and rarely missed a chance to keep us at his house.

Moving to Melbourne was hard and the look on his face when we told him we were moving is something I’ll never forget. I moved back from Melbourne after my freshman year in high school and lived with Dad (then lived in the apartment in Lawrenceville until graduation) and during my freshman year in college he went to Iraq. He was there for about 18 months as a government contractor and not a day went by when I didn’t worry for his safety. After he got back he actually moved to Melbourne too and lived less than a mile away from my mom! Small world huh? It made it pretty convenient to visit them both when we went down there! Now Dad lives back at Lake Lanier (in the same house he moved into after my parents divorced!) and is married to Audrey. We don’t get to visit too often as he still does travel a lot for work (you can tell where I got the travel itch from!) but now that he’s more settled and only 4 hours away I think that’ll be changing 🙂

 Brandon

My brother, Brandon, is three years younger than me. I really don’t remember life without him and I think we have the perfect age difference. We fought, of course, but we also have a very strong bond. I love my brother. It makes me sad that we are grown-ups now with spouses, and jobs (well he has a job), and kids (I have the kid!) and that life is so busy. I know it’s a natural thing but I miss those fun lazy “I’m bored” days with Brandon. Growing up he always looked up to me and I took the role of older sister very seriously. Half the time I bossed him around but I always had his best interest at heart. Even though Brandon doesn’t always remember our childhood adventures, I remember enough of them for the both of us. He was all boy (killing my pet frog, hunting squirrels, calling me names like “gorilla butt”) and I was all girl (Barbies, never getting dirty, boy crazy).

We would make home movies ALL the time with our neighborhood friends, play cars and dolls together, and we always have each others back. I think sibling trust is so important and we were never the type to go run and tell our parents on each other. Zach calls Brandon “phase” because the kid would get hardcore about stuff then switch and be hardcore about something else. In some pictures I have of him he’s dressed “gangsta” and in others he’s dressed “red-neck.” I love that he gets into stuff and I especially love that he is so passionate about the things he enjoys! One regret I do have is that we didn’t get to go to high school together. He was a freshman when I was a senior but I was living back in Lawrenceville and he was still in Melbourne. It would have been so fun to roam the halls together but we still made lots of great memories on his visits to my apartment! He got married to Chrissy last March (their anniversary is Monday!) and graduated with his bachelor’s degree from UF this past Dec. He’s actually about to beat me in the education department as he moves on to grad-school this fall!

I know my family may be a little complicated (with divorce and so many moves!) but the bottom line is that we love each other. I’m so thankful that I was born a Sedgley and that I was raised in the life I’ve been raised in. Even the tougher times in life help shape us to the adults we will be and every bump in the road helped me grow! I know that no matter what we have each other and I’m so excited to see what the future will hold for us all. Mom with her new career and town, Brandon with grad-school and married life, and Dad settling down and taking life a little easier! Thanks Mom, Dad, and Brandon for being my family!!!

I’d love to know more about YOUR families too!

Emily Parker
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