Lady Lori's Birthday

Lori with baby Dan (2006)  I need to take more pictures of Lori!

Today is Lori's birthday.  Lori is my oldest brother's wife.  Ray married Lori when the rest of us were already married and having children and so Lori got to join a rather large and growing family.  She seemed to handle that easily even though she did not grow up in a large family.  Lori grew up in a good family and her parents are really nice people that we have enjoyed meeting on a few occasions.

I decided to call Lori "Lady Lori" because I think she has handled her marriage, and being the Mother of Michael, who has Fragile X Syndrome, very gracefully.  It has been good to see my brother Ray, who was terrified of marriage, come to obviously enjoy being married.  Lori is good to him, and she appreciates the good in Ray.  Ray and Lori live near my parents and they really enjoy doing things with them, and for them.  Lori calls my Mom a lot, and is thankful to have a good friend / mother-in-law nearby.

Ray and Lori's son Michael is about one month younger than Kayli.  He is 15, coming up quickly on 16, but he is severely affected by having Fragile X Syndrome.  While he is Kayli's age, his development is closer to that of a much younger preschool child.  Now that he is getting older, his behavior is being affected by hormones and he has been having a hard time, which means so has Lori.  Nobody could possibly love Michael more than Lori.  She spends a lot of her time caring for him, and worrying over him.  She is his advocate and works hard to find people to help him.  I remember my Mom telling me that Lori takes Michael to the park every day in almost any weather because he likes to be outdoors so much.  Even that has been hard lately because he is getting big, and it is hard to get him to do something he does not want to (like going home, or even staying at the playground).  He is getting quick too which might explain how Lori manages to stay in such good shape.

When Lori gets a little time to herself, or with Ray, she likes going to plays, and watching movies.  She likes to cook and is good at it, but she also enjoys eating out.  She likes shopping and enjoys beautiful clothing.  Lori loves family events but has often skipped them because someone needed to stay with Michael and she knew Ray wanted to go.  I often think of Lori and admire her for how well she loves Ray, and Michael, and my parents, and really all of us who she knows.  She is patient and she is good at keeping a positive outlook on things.  I hope that she has a very happy birthday.