Jeffrey was born on March 9, 1976; he was almost a month overdue. At the time I was married to a guy named Tom, who was not Jeffrey's father. His father was my ex, Jerry Villarreal (father of my two youngest). When i discovered I was pregnant with Jeffrey, I had just enrolled in a business college and was looking forward to completing the courses and finding a good job, one that would enable me to comfortably support my two sons. The news was devastating to me.
I met Tom at the school and we started to go out, as friends only. He was funny and fun to be around. Soon, he moved in with me and my boys. I think I allowed this because my mother interfered and I wanted to "show her" that i made my own decisions. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
There are some people who, when they tune in to your concerns, complaints, etc., zone in with "helpful" advice. These people can manipulate you into thinking it is all your idea to do something, when, in fact, they have subtly maneuvered your steps. This is what I feel happened. I expressed unhappiness at my being pregnant and Tom convinced me that I "deserved" to finish school and build a financially secure future for myself and my boys. Next thing I knew I was at a clinic, signing papers to terminate the pregnancy.
Sitting in the changing room, wearing a paper gown, I was overcome with apprehension, and guilt. I was killing a baby, wasn't I? I prayed as hard as I could, please God, give me a sign to know what to do. Maybe it was because I hadn't eaten breakfast, or because i was nervous, I heard a sound coming from deep within me. I swear, I heard a sound like a kitten's mew. I froze for a few minutes, not sure I was hearing right. Then I threw on my clothes and ran out of that place, giving thanks to God for answering my prayer.
Jeffrey was a big baby, weighing 9 pounds, 10 1/2 ounces. He was way overdue and looked water-logged. When they wheeled him into my room, he was on his tummy, but he was trying to lift up his head, as if to look around. He was the darling of the floor!
As a baby Jeffrey was unique. He stood up all by himself when he was four months old! But then he didn't walk until he was almost a year, always content to sit or stand, looking and laughing at the crazy antics of his brothers, throwing toys at them.
He was ambidextrous for a long time, until well-intentioned- or intolerant- teachers forced him to choose the right hand. He could also write backwards, which also freaked the teachers. I wish teachers would just leave creative children alone!
Jeffrey was a happy and playful kid. He was always running, jumping and climbing trees -and getting hurt. He was known by name at the emergency room. He was also a very loving child, always wanting to cuddle and be close to me. And I guess, because he was going to be my last baby, and maybe I still felt a tinge of guilt at having once thought of getting rid of what now was such a wonderful child, I tended to spoil him. He was my baby.
As he grew older, Jeffrey became more creative, writing stories and poems, and expanding his love of art. He worked at Six Flags, Fiesta Texas as an artist and he also drew pictures for people. I still have a drawing of Popeye and Olive Oil that he made for me. And he wrote a cartoon called Booger's Adventure, about a dog that gets "dog-napped" by aliens, but is returned after he makes a stinky poo.
Jeffrey's first car was a VW Beetle (bug) he bought for $200, and fixed up. Jeffrey had an adventurous life after he passed his teens years (I won't mention the teen years, I'm just lucky we survived them!), he moved out, lived with roommates, then on his own. He ended up moving in with the girl who would soon become his wife. He had known her since high school and had been in love with her. They had a beautiful wedding on the San Antonio RiverWalk. Eventually, they moved to Austin where he enrolled at St. Edwards University and his wife, Misty worked at Eye Masters.
Soon they announced that they were pregnant and when the twins were born I was asked to help out with childcare. I started taking care of the girls when they were about two and a half months old, traveling back and forth to Austin from my house in San Antonio.
After Jeffrey graduated they moved with me, to my house. But, unfortunately their marriage was short-lived. Jeffrey had signed up to join the Navy Officer Candidate School, so he sat me down and asked me if I would help him because he wanted his daughters to join him after he graduated, but he couldn't take care of them on his own. It was a hard decision for me, as I was comfortable in my house, and had looked forward to when his wife and the girls joined him in Florida, but now it was me that would have to join him with the girls. As any loving mother would, i agreed to help him.
Before he left for OCS, we had a lot of fun. We had season passes to Fiesta TX and would go as often as we could, late in the afternoon, first cooling off at the Water Park, the girls going on rides, then staying until closing time so that we could watch the fireworks. Sometimes we would go to the "coconut' restaurant, as the girls named it.
In Pensacola we went to the beach every chance we got. We also would take trips to the zoo in Gulf Breeze and we would attend activities sponsored by the military at the base or at the MWR park, where the girls won first place for their "retro-girls" Halloween costumes!
Jeffrey was very busy with flight school and other military duties, but on his time off, we were always doing fun things, going to eat, to movies, fishing, etc. Sure, we had our differences, as do any two persons - family or not, but they were minor, and we mostly got along very well, and enjoyed quality time together. After all, this was my baby and his babies, who were now also my babies, as I went on to raise them for the next 5 years (8 total).
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