Brian David Nix

This is my oldest son, Brian. He was born on December 22, 1978, and we came home from North Shore Hospital in North Miami Beach, Florida, on Christmas Day. It was a wonderful, scary time. I was a first-time mother and had hated babysitting when I was a teenager. But I fell completely in love with this nine pound, two ounce baby boy. He was so wonderful!

Brian began walking when he was nine months old and ran at ten months. He never quit running from that point on. He loved his half-brothers and -sister. He toddled after them constantly. He was such a bright little boy and so interested in everything. He was a natural-born leader. He was so sweet. He wasn't much of a cuddler, his brother took that role, but Brian was always concerned with other people's feelings. He always wanted to do the right thing. And for the most part he did.

I remember one Mother's Day that happened to land on my birthday as well. Since it was just the boys and I, I didn't make much of a deal about those things for me, but I did for their birthdays. Someone at church happened to wish me a happy birthday within ear-shot of Brian. He turned to me and asked, "It's your birthday?" with all the excitement of a seven-year-old. I said yes, it was. There was nothing we could do but stop at the grocery store to buy me a cake. Then Brian wanted to get me a present so I gave him my last $20 bill and stood outside the drug store while he took his 4-year-old brother in with him to get me a present. He returned with a gift (earrings), a gift bag, and a card and still had almost $10 in change! I have a feeling that someone in the store helped him out a bit.

Why did he do this? Because it was my birthday and the word "birthday" is synonymous with "birthday party" to a seven-year-old, of course! While that was my last $20 until payday, almost a week away, I would gladly forgo lunches for the week for the joy on my son's face when I opened my present, a beautiful pair of earrings I wore proudly.

Before I knew it, Brian was getting his driver's license. Now he had real independence. It seemed like just yesterday that he was a tiny baby, and then he was a young man today. What a transition to make in such a short time!

Brian went to Arizona State University in Phoenix, where his dad lived. He was going to follow his father's footsteps and go into computer programming. However, as Brian soon found out, that was not his calling. He eventually decided to major in real estate development and got his degree in 2001. He works with a real estate developer putting huge deals together and flying all over the country.

I could not be prouder of my son. He is my firstborn and my first true love. I didn't always do it right, but I did the best I could to mother Brian and his brother. In spite of myself, he turned out a fine man. Now, if I could just get him married...

More pictures will be added whenever we get them unpacked.

None of these graphics may be duplicated, copied,

uploaded to another server or linked to.