Where to start? I guess the beginning is as good a place as any.. I’m Ellie and I’m just your run of the mill country girl. I live in a small town in the Northeastern part of South Carolina called Blenheim. The town once upon a time bottled it’s own ginger ale with the mineral water from the spring. There’s nothing much to call it a town except the dinky post office, farm lands, and a caution light. The neighboring town, Bennettsville, is where we go to do our shopping and such, but it’s nothing to write home about either.
My parents were high school sweethearts that graduated and my father got married (and had three daughters) and my mother went to college. Later, after they had both been married and divorced, they came back together and married. I was a surprise for them after a few years of marriage.
Everyone said I was a good baby and jubilant child. I remember dragging out my little portable radio whenever company by to sing and dance for them. I always wanted to be the center of attention, which I think is typical for an only child. My father had three daughters from his previous marriage, one whom died of pneumonia at six months old. The other girls, Donna and Michelle, only came as long as the court ordered them to.
My father, Melvin, wasn’t the greatest of men. He was a terrible alcoholic that would stay out until all hours of the night and was so ornery that you hated to talk to him half of the time. He worked in the county’s tax assessor’s office for years mapping out land blueprints. My mama, Peggy, was a teacher and then principal for over 18 years. She was even my primary school principal!
Years passed and my mother retired to help take care of her parents as well as my father. His health started to deteriorate and he had stroke after stroke. He passed away in 2001, after making peace with a lot of people as well as God. He actually became a member of the community church and was buried next to his parents and his daughter that passed before him.
2002 was a rough year for me. After loosing my daddy late in 2001, my grandfather died and then I was diagnosed with a Chiari Malformation. I had to go to Charleston, SC to have brain surgery in November of 2002. I’ve recovered nicely since then, but I still have migraines now and again. I missed a lot of school and got a ‘I don’t care’ attitude about a lot of things.
I stayed in school until my senior and then stupidly dropped out. I did get my GED before the rest of my class graduated and went to college for a few months before I started having problems with my diabetes. I’ve been a diabetic since I was 10, and around this time my blood sugar was completely out of control. I dropped out of college and basically did nothing but sit on my butt.
In 2005, I met my now husband DJ, and we started dating. It wasn’t too long before I found out I was pregnant with my first son, Jonathan. It was then that I really focused on my blood sugar and health in general. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t harming my son in any way, so I stayed on the straight and narrow. On Jonathan’s first birthday, I found out I was surprisingly pregnant again with my son, Brandon. I married DJ a month after Brandon was born, and I feel my life is complete.
We all live with my mother at my childhood home. She’s had a lot of health problems, and is now wheelchair bound. I’ve almost lost her a time or two and I won’t trust her to be in anyone else’s hands. Besides, she has two grandsons that love her to bits and she just can’t go anywhere!
I never had the hardships a lot of people have faced, but I’ve had my share of set backs. They’ve all made me the person I am today, and for that I’m thankful.