Stay Beautiful

"Corey's eyes are like a jungle; He smiles, it's like the radio..." (Taylor Swift, "Stay Beautiful") This is what a few teenage girls I know sing about Corey.

In the tradition of my posting a thankful post everyday I thought I would post a few about my children, starting with my oldest, Corey. And yeah, I'm totally going to brag!

It's fitting to start with Corey not only because he's the oldest, but also because he's entering another big phase of his life...driving! Yesterday he got his learners permit and let me tell you, there should be an instruction manual complete with instructions on how to get your affairs in order for parents of teens with a learners permit! - But that's a post for another day.

I can't believe he is 15 already. I remember most vividly the day he was born and how Les and I sat up in the hospital into the wee hours of the morning cuddled together on the bed just staring at him in total wonder of this little miracle. We kept saying, "We made this! Wow!"

I'm proud to say that Corey has always been a very easy going, good kid from the very start. I'm knocking wood right now as I say that...but truly I have all the confidence in the world that he will stay on the straight and narrow, because he knows exactly who he is and what is expected of him. He rarely gets angry and generally makes the best out of every situation.

Corey loves to play sports, but is not overly competitive. He usually plays a sport every season, but ditched out on basketball this year in favor of drivers ed. This year he placed 4th on his team at districts in cross country and I'm sure we will see great things in soccer this spring as well.

Corey has an amazing ability to be liked by everyone. I'm thankful to say that he is best friends with some of the greatest boys whom I genuinely like to have around the house. They drive all over the place going to different church dances and activities. It seems like if there's a dance within 75 miles they will find it and be there!

Corey is beginning to overcome his greatest challenge in his young life, a severe stutter. Since his very early days of speech he has stuttered, often repeating phrases, sounds or words 10 times or so. He's rarely expressed being upset by it, it's been almost like he had an accent or something to him, just a part of him people would have to accept - "I have brown hair, brown eyes, and I stutter". While Les and I were glad for his confidence, it has required patience on a grand scale for two busy parents to listen to what he had to say without interrupting or finishing his sentence. It was often painful to watch him struggle and we knew there were so many challenges he would have to face; job interviews, dating, serving a mission.... We are so proud to say that his stuttering has vastly improved, so much so he doesn't even go to speech anymore.

His optimistic and loving personality have been such a blessing in our home. When asked to do something it isn't often we hear, "but I did that last time" or "In a minute". The worst we ever get is a disappointed "Oh, Ok" which we count as pretty good for a teenager!

I'm grateful to Corey for setting such a good example for his siblings, parents and all those around him.

Stay beautiful son, I love you!