Mandy's 26th Birthday

Mandy was born 26 years ago today. She was a beautiful baby and a very happy one. Her name (Amanda Jean) means lovable gift of God and that is what she is. When we took her to have her picture taken when she was six weeks old, the photographer said how unusual it was for a baby that age to smile for the camera. I have an old cassette tape that has a recording of her laughing when she was 7 months old. She really brought joy into our lives.

She wasn't always laughing though. Bob says Mandy was one extreme or the other - laughing or crying. When she was around 2 or 3 years old, we would sit at the dinner table and pass around the food. Once we started to eat, we would notice Mandy quietly sobbing into her plate. "What's the matter?" we would ask. "No one gave me any mashed potatoes." would be her response. (Or something similar, as it was a recurring event)

Mandy loved little furry, snuggly creatures. One time she came running in the house and said, "Mom, we found a mouse outside. I have it in a bucket." I came out to look at the "mouse" but it turned out to be a gerbil. We put him in our old hamster cage and named him Gerry. He was Mandy's pet for several years.

On another occasion I came home and found Mandy sitting in the front yard holding a baby bunny. "He won't go back in his hole." she said. "He will if you let go of him." I said. (which turned out to be true) Mandy always wanted us to buy her a rabbit because her science teacher had one at school. We never gave in. It was enough for us to have a gerbil, a cat and a rowdy dalmatian.

Growing up in the church, Mandy often said she thought God wanted her to go to South America. She had a little scar on her elbow in the shape of South America. I was a little skeptical of that being a valid sign. One day Mandy was eating Tostitos and pulled a chip out of the bag and said, "Look, Mom. South America." Sure enough, the chip was shaped like the continent. Mandy began to prepare for possibly becoming a missionary. She listened intently when missionaries came to the church. When we started going to a new church in 1994, we met Dennis, a man who was preparing to be a missionary with New Tribes. He talked to both of our girls about missions work and even gave us videos to watch. Mandy went to Bolivia for the summer after she graduated from high school. She was the only one on her team who could speak Spanish, so she helped them get through the airports in South America.

I talked to Mandy while she was in Bolivia and made plans for our family to drive down to Miami and meet her plane when she arrived back in the U.S. She told me they would be in at 5:45 on the 18th. We left home the evening of the 17th and drove straight through. We arrived at the Miami airport before 3:00 on the afternoon of the 18th. We soon learned that you need to speak Spanish to find your way through the Miami airport, too. Bob eventually figured out that Mandy's plane had arrived 5:45 AM. We called New Tribes Missions and found out Mandy's team was staying at a hotel near the airport. The family never trusts Mandy and me to plan things anymore.

Mandy went back to Bolivia the following February. She taught in the school for the Indian children. She got very sick while she was there and was still recovering when she returned a couple of months later. It took her about 24 hours just to fly back because they rerouted her plane through New Jersey. The airline gave her a voucher to use on a future flight. I remember that Lisa Lauter was there with us to meet Mandy returning from Bolivia. Lisa and the voucher are important elements in the rest of Mandy's story. The short version goes like this...

Mandy's sister Darcy left for a one-year mission trip to East Asia in July 2000. Adam, who was also going on the trip told Mandy about a band named Pavement (because Adam and Mandy both have the same weird taste in music). Mandy began listening to some Pavement online and liked their music. She decided to buy a Pavement album on ebay, but she was cautious because Bobby had bought something on ebay and got a homemade copy of a CD. So Mandy emailed the guy who was selling the Pavement CD she wanted. In his reply email he told her he was a Christian (even though Pavement is not a Christian band). Turns out the guy's name was Brooks and he lived in Phoenix. Mandy emailed Brooks that she had a friend (Lisa Lauter) who moved to Phoenix. He wrote back and said, "No way. She goes to my church." Brooks and Mandy started emailing each other regularly (even though someone else won the Pavement auction). Darcy asked Mandy to come visit her in Thailand in January. Mandy prayed that she would be able to go even though she didn't know how she would pay for it. Our insurance agent called and said he wanted to give a check to Mandy for $1,500 for an accident she had the previous year. When Mandy booked her flight through Priceline, they routed her through Phoenix. Lisa and Brooks came to meet her at the airport. She had a five hour layover so they went to dinner. Brooks also met her plane on the way back. Later Mandy used her voucher to visit Lisa in Phoenix for a week. Brooks and Mandy were married in May 2002 and are now the parents of the cutest baby in the history of the world, Rhys.