This is my wonderful wife. Patti and I were married in 1980. We have been blessed with good health and great friends and family not to mention two wonderful children.
Patti is the real person who keeps the family going. She is a tireless worker at keeping everything straight and making sure everything gets done. That must be why they call them honey do list.
Patti works part time for a pediatrician in Columbia.
Her hobbies include me , swimming, reading, working out, movies and walks.
She is my best friend in life and always will be. She is a very intelligent person and incredibly beautiful.
She gets to church much more often than I and makes sure the kids get there. She likes to experiment with her hair in different lengths and most recently, color.
One thing I like that is important in any marriage is her ability to make me laugh.
May you all be as lucky as I am.
Next are my wonderful kids. My daughter was born on March 20, 1988. A wonderful experience. That's because I wasn't the one giving birth. Actually my wife was in labor 3 days with her. They took her in on a Friday morning to induce labor and Sunday night about 11:30pm she was born. This was a milestone for me also. I missed a Maryland basketball playoff game. Her name is Melissa Nicole Hartley and she is one beautiful and caring person. She likes softball and is now beginning my passion, basketball. She does very well in school and LOVES cats. I think she may grow up to be a good writer but also takes to music pretty well where she plays trumpet. Her Godparents are Mary Eckert and Mark Briggs.
My son was born on July 25, 1990 and he took his good time getting to this world also but not as much time as his sister. He is also a very loving child and a chip off the old block. Drives the wife crazy, just like me. He likes baseball but he loves football (Packers fan) and hockey, also hoops. Actually basketball and soccer are his favorites. He collects cards and love to play sports and ride his bike. He also is a very good artist. He wants to be a zoo keeper or basketball player when he grows up. He also is a very caring and respectful son and person. His godparents are Mike Eckert and Lorri Butler (my sister)
Mom, boy there isn't enough room on the web to do her justice. She gave everything in raising my sister and I after dad died when I was nine and even for some time before that. I have never seen anyone as giving and wanting nothing in return. She still works tirelessly and is still sharp as a tack for her years. A person who gives me confidence and expresses her pride in me which is all I could hope for. I think that the best I could do for her is continue to try to be a good person and live life to it's fullest.
My sister Lorri is a wonderful mother of 2, Michael and Michelle. We get along so much better now that we don't live together. Oh, that was a flashback to our years of fighting as teenagers. No, Lorri is wonderful and I'm so proud of how she has grown up and lucky enough to have her own family. She can be a wonderful and caring person.
This brings me to my extended family, The Eckert's. Boy what a shock I had walking into this home the first time. A ton of people. 8 in all. They all must have had friends over that day because it seemed like a million. Anyway if I wasn't lucky enough with my own family, I'm now one of them, at least they make me feel like it. They gave me a great gift in their daughter. Mr. and Mrs. E, can't say enough about them also. Just like my mom, they are always there in time of need and in time of joy.
Brother Bill is the oldest and soon to be the grayest of hair. He and his wife Sue just had their 4th child. Anyway Bill is my B-Ball partner against the evil duo of Mike and Mark. I call these two the Republican flock. The poor things are so misled politically that Bill and I have so much fun in watching them lose election after election that we can hardly contain ourselves. Well with the recent election of Bush our regien of terror is over. No, Mike and Mark and Tom are all great too. We all miss Mary who is in Florida now. She seems to be happy now but then again she is always happy. Mark and his wife Ashley are also now in Florida and expecting their first child this coming spring/summer and they have a wonderful new home.
I have a wonderful aunt June an uncle Frank in Arizona. They really helped me a lot when I was young and trying to figure some things out. Frank is a wonderful man who taught me how to tie knots and fish as a youngster on Lake Ontario in N.Y. June also taught me a bit. She is a very specific person who believes in doing a job right. I always got a sense that when she came home from work that she always made a great contribution. Aunt June passed this year and we miss her badly. My aunt Thelma is in N.Y. still. I don't know how she deals with all the snow they get there.
I would like to give all these people my thanks for there help and guidance over the years.
