We Never Spent a Dime on Her

Our friends, Dwayne and Glenda Dotson, were being transferred to another state. The year was 1989. Jobs have a way of doing that to people sometimes.

Their daughter, Deanne, was about to begin her senior year of high school. It was the worst possible time for a shy 17 year old girl to have to go to a new school in a different state.

Kathy and I had a discussion one night after hearing about the Dotson’s predicament. We decided to talk to Dwayne and Glenda about Deanne moving in with us during her last year in high school.

Not sure of all the details and the discussions that followed, but it wasn’t long before Deanne moved in with us and became a part of our family.


If you have ever heard me speak, you have heard me talk about the importance of relationships. From my perspective, it really doesn’t matter how much money one makes or how many things one accumulates.

The quality time we spend together doing normal mundane things is what we remember the most as time goes by. And it is those things that have the most impact.

Trust me on that.

To my knowledge we never spent a dime on Deanne when she lived with us. Her dad made sure all of her expenses were paid.

But for one school year we spent time with her - which is always the best investment.

She saw us as we really are with all the warts and imperfections. We never tried to pretend to be someone other than who we really are.

I also don't ever remember giving her a lesson about how to live life. Her dad and mom had instilled all that in her long before she moved in with us.

But I do remember a lot of “moments” sitting in the den and around the table talking about everything under the sun.

I also remember a lot of laughter.

When she moved out and went on to college, I had a lump in my throat. She honored me several years later by asking me to assist the minister in officiating at her wedding.

As you can imagine, our relationship with Deanne and her husband Brian continues and will continue as long as we all are breathing.

When Father's Day or Mother's Day comes around, we always get a card from our Dee.

Always.



I got an email from our special daughter this week. She has just been promoted to the Director of the Radiology Program at North Metro Technical College in Acworth, GA and is about to begin pursuing her Masters in Science of Radiological Sciences.



The shy - not so confident little girl has become a confident, beautiful successful woman. We could not be more proud if she was our own.

The truth is - she is like our own. We kinda share her with her real mom and dad.

And just think... we never spent a dime on her.