My old friend, Cyndi, brought up a concern to me, today. As my blog grows, there are people who don’t know who Bijoux is. She made an excellent point, so, as I began to contemplate introducing Bijoux, I thought, gosh, some of these readers won’t know me, either, so I should probably introduce myself as well.

I turned 66 years old in 2017. I am not ashamed of my age. Too many people are fighting, daily, to get where I am. Besides, that’s just the age of my shell, not my soul within me. I was born, Marilee Joyce Williams, in 1951, and was raised in Normal, Illinois, by my parents, Sam and Jean, both teachers, now deceased. I have just one sibling, my brother,  a retired teacher, who is now 70. I graduated from Illinois State University with a degree to teach high school English classes.

I married Larry Alvey in Normal, Illinois, in August of 1971, at the age of 20. Larry had his pilot’s license when we met.   He would later become an Air National Guard pilot for 22 years. Toward the end of that assignment, he bacame an American Airlines Pilot, based out of Chicago. He died at the age of 60 in July, 2010, after being a pilot with American for 25 years. It was the year he was to retire. Boy, did he EVER! Nice retirement plan, buddy! We had a marriage that was the happily ever after scenario, so saying goodbye to him on this Earth was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Four years after Larry died, I moved to Georgia, a big change that reflected the radical changes going on inside me, from being married for 39 years to widowhood.

I have three adult children, a daughter, and two sons.  Between them, they have given me nine grandchildren! Larry and I also became guardians of a young man from St. Petersburg, Russia, from the age of 16-19. We always counted him as one of our children, so I still do. He designs cars for Renault in Paris, France. He is my bonus son! To further introduce the players in my life, there are two girls who are sunshine in my life, my nieces, whom I might mention from time to time. They, too, are adults now. Since their mother has passed away, they are my inheritance, a fact I rejoice in daily. You might hear about them, here, too, from time to time.

From time to time, I’ll mention my dog, Bijoux. Her name is french for “Jewels.” I made it plural because I liked the word ending better, English nerd that I am. Bijoux was born August 26, 2016. I became her mama when she was ten weeks old. She is a little white pomeranian who looks something like a cross between a fox, a baby seal, a baby polar bear, or, most of the time, simply a ridiculous ball of fluff. She is my little buddy, my little companion, who has taken eight months to potty train! We have finally succeeded, for the most part. Being a puppy, still, she still exasperates me from time to time, as I do, her, but we are growing together, day by day. Today, I can honestly claim that I love her dearly.

I have introduced to you the main players in my blog and will try to be careful to explain better, in future blogs, about whom I am speaking. For the sake of their right to privacy, I will not be posting photos of these people, and, in fact, probably will just be calling them, “My daughter,” “my son,” “my niece,” “my Russian son,” “my brother,” or “my grandchildren,” if I mention them at all. This blog isn’t about my family. It’s more about faith, feelings, emotions, challenges and the world in which I currently reside. This is not my home. I am an alien here, so, when things get tough, I try to back away from it, say, “I’m glad I don’t live here,” and remind myself of my passport that reflects my true residence and inheritance. I am royalty, the daughter of THE KING, and I’m not talking about Elvis!

I leave you with a photo of myself and little Bijoux.