It was early the morning of February 4, 1983. I got out of bed around 5:15 a.m. because Jan wasnt in bed with me. I walked out of our bedroom and there she stood at the mirror in our bath room putting on make up. I asked her what she was doing, and she said it was time to go to the hospital. This was a rather dreary morning in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. She calmly finished getting her makeup on, we got dressed, and off we went to the Doctors building in Little Rock, Arkansas to check in. The doctor examined Jan and said the baby was not ready to come. But, he said he would let her stay because of the threatening weather outside. Snow was on the way. Again, we did not know what the gender of the baby was. We knew the name, but we were anxious for the baby to arrive. Jan wanted to have a baby girl, but had a mental revelation it would be a boy. We went into the hospital to a labor room late morning that day and waited anxiously. Jan was having labor pains that were getting closer together. Around mid-afternoon she was very uncomfortable and knew the baby was on the way. I was able to go into the delivery room as our new baby arrived. Family was beginning to arrive and I was going back and forth from the delivery room to the family waiting area and almost missed the delivery. Out came the baby, and it was a boy. Jordan Edwards Bone made his arrival as our only child we would have together. He was a miracle because I had been fixed several years earlier, and was reversed after a couple of years of Jan and my marriage. It worked! As a guy, I felt I had suffered too for this baby. Doesnt that sound just like a guy? He was healthy and we were happy. I think Jan became very glad Jordan was a boy as the years went by. Jordan was eight years younger than Mark, 10 years younger than Chad and 12 years younger than Rachael. To say the older ones thought he was spoiled from day one would be an understatement. And, Jan and I totally agree. He was like a grandchild to us. At our marriage date we didnt think we would ever be allowed to have a child due to my fix. Jordan is certainly his mother and dads son. When our family gets together there are so many stories about how Jordan was so protected. Jordan has a totally different story to tell. Jordan came into our world when things were pretty challenging. Finances were a challenge, but that didnt hold us back. We were blessed in every way although the world was not very friendly to us. Trying to remain strong in your Christian faith amidst Christianity within the Baptist church during the 1980s was difficult. The rumor mill was crazy about me and how I had gone through the divorce. And, I will add, the rumors were false. You wouldnt believe the things made up during a critical time like that. I was not a happy camper to say the least. We moved to Fort Worth for a new job. Things were crazy there too. Eight months later we moved to Little Rock, and I opened up my own company. At first we lived in an apartment until I was able to build up enough income to buy a house. Jordan, Mark, Jan and I lived in five houses/apartments within a 3 year period of time. Our apartment was 900 square feet. Chad and Rachael came every other weekend and during the summers to live with us. It was close quarters. Jan took it like a champ and never missed a beat. I was working like crazy to help us survive financially. We were stable in Little Rock from 1984 until 1998. That worked out great for our family. Jordan attended Otter Creek Elementary School, MLK Middle School, and Horace Mann Junior High School. At Horace Mann he was on the basketball team. He was showing up to be a good basketball player. When I chose to move us back to Fort Worth for a new position, Jordan wasnt very happy. He had some great friends at Horace Mann, and he hoped to continue his friendships, school and basketball in Little Rock. He was beginning to prove he was a quality young man when he made excellent decisions to like Crowley High School beginning in his 10th grade year. He was a student in a brand new school, North Crowley High School. He started playing basketball with a great coach and some great players. From the beginning his basketball teams were beating the majority of the competition and winning their conference championships. He played behind an eventual All-American at Kansas. Kansas became his favorite college team, and still is today. Jordan had a great youth group at Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Smith. He still has many good friends from there. I took another job in Atlanta, Georgia during Jordans senior year in high school. Jan stayed in Fort Worth until he graduated and our house sold. During Jordans college years he met a girl we did not know, but Jordan had attended junior high with at Horace Mann in Little Rock. He introduced us to Sarah Opitz, and I knew from the day we met he would seek to marry this girl. Sarah reminded me in many ways of Jan. She was calm, committed to her school work, and really liked our son. In many ways I was harder on Jordan than any of our children. They dont see it that way, but I think Jordan does. I put expectations on him and sought to hold him accountable. As the only child between Jan and me, we wanted to see the very best for him. As you can tell from the way I am writing this post, we watched his every move. Jordan is a man growing into his role as husband, employee, Christian man, continues to be a student doing Masters degree work in Little Rock, married to a wonderful lady (yes, Sarah Opitz Bone MD), and now the expectant father of our 4th grandchild - Rorie Campbell Bone. She will arrive in August of this summer, Lord willing. I am pleased to honor Jordan this day! He is making us very happy with his commitments and zeal for life.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 14:19:57 +0000
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