My brother JJ and my other brother Blake

Something happened in my life 5 months ago (May 11th to be exact) that I haven't blogged much about, but I think it is finally time. I mentioned in this post that I knew my birth father and I knew he had two sons, but that was about the extent of my knowledge of them back in March of this year. I met them all when I was 18 at a restaurant for breakfast, but we didn't keep up with each other after that. At the time, my brother JJ was 11 years old and my brother Blake was only 6 years old. I didn't consider these boys my brothers, I just thought of them as Jimmy's (my birth father) sons.

On May 11th of this year, I got a facebook message from Blake that said this:

"My father, Jimmy, has told me for years that I had a half-sister and I always wanted to meet her. He told me that you were her. Is Jimmy your father?"

Talk about a facebook message that will stop you in your tracks. Wow.

After I took a minute or two to completely flip out from excitement, I wrote him back. I told him that I was the person he was looking for and that I was really happy to hear from him. We messaged back and forth for a while, and then that turned into texting. Blake told JJ about me and told him that if he was interested in having a relationship with me, I was open to it. Not long after that, JJ and I began texting as well. And to this day we are all still texting very regularly. A text from either of these guys just makes my day better.

This summer, Robbie, the kids, and I spent a weekend in Dallas. On that Saturday evening, Robbie and I went to dinner with Blake and his girlfriend. After all the texting we'd been doing, I felt like I knew him already! After dinner, I got to meet Jimmy. This was the first time in 17 years and only the second time in my life I had ever laid eyes on my birth father. It was so good to be able to just sit and visit with them. We left the kids that night with my birth mom, Sherry, but Jimmy really wanted to meet them so we took them back the next day for a few minutes so they would have a chance to meet. We were also able to meet Jimmy's wife, Denise, that day. The whole thing was just so exciting for me. One of those moments that you feel like it's just too good to be true. The only thing missing that day was JJ and his family. If they had been able to come it would've been perfect.

A few weeks ago when Robbie and I went to Canton for the weekend, we were able to go out to eat with Jimmy and Blake, but JJ was out of town hunting so he couldn't be there. I have really been wanting to meet JJ because he and I have a lot in common and we seem to have the same sense of humor. And even though I hadn't had a chance to meet him yet, I already knew that I cared for him and loved him very much.

It's amazing how much you can learn about a person just through texting.

My birth father, Jimmy also calls me every once in a while now to check on me or just tell me to have a good day. I never dreamed that I would be able to have a relationship with him, so just knowing that he cares about me means the world to me.

This is Jimmy, my birth father

Tuesday of this week was Blake's birthday, and he asked if I could come to Dallas for the day just to spend the day with him. Tuesday is the one day of the week I have right now that I have no after school or evening activities planned, so it was perfect. And since I would be in town, I asked JJ if he could meet us for lunch on his lunch break so I would finally get to meet him too. Blake was able to get off work that day, JJ got a long lunch hour approved, and I got a friend to pick my kids up from school, so it worked out for all of us.

My mom rode up to Dallas with me Tuesday so she could spend the day with my Aunt Ruby, which was nice because that can be a long ride alone. And even though we were in a hurry at the time, she got to meet Jimmy and Blake both while she was there. Blake and I dropped my mom off at Aunt Ruby's and headed to meet JJ for lunch. I was SO excited because I was starting to think I wasn't ever going to actually get to meet him!

Y'all. Having lunch with my two 'new' brothers was so fun! Blake and I got there first and when JJ came in he was shaking like a leaf and acted like he was scared of me. It was so sweet! It's because I'm so awesome and he's never been in the room with someone before that is as awesome as me (haha - love you JJ!). I'm glad JJ was confident in his job security because I think we were at Buffalo Wild Wings for at least 2 hours. And even though JJ referred to me as 'old' several times and had a little thing with his tooth (that I will not go into), the lunch date with my brothers was just perfect. And even after 2 hours of sitting there talking, I could've easily stayed 2 more. I love getting to know these boys.

JJ, myself, and Blake at Buffalo Wild Wings

After lunch, Blake and I went shopping for him some new clothes. He has grown out of his Gothic phase, but his clothes had not. His closet consisted of black, with a little more black, and some black on top of that. It was time to get the boy into some color. He tried on almost everything I picked out for him and ended up getting several new outfits (none of which were black). It was SO much fun! He did not, however, give in to all of the pressure I put on him to get his hair cut, but I am still working on that. ;-)

After Blake and I shopped for a while, we went back to the house to show Jimmy some of his new clothes. I stayed and talked to them for a while and then it was time to go get my mom and head home.

I hope that JJ enjoyed meeting me as much as I did him, and I can't wait to meet his wife and little girl soon. And I also hope that Blake is glad that he chose to spend his 23rd birthday with me. It's certainly not a day I will be forgetting any time soon.

With us building a house we've waited years on and my getting to know this side of my family better, the phrase that keeps running through my head lately is this:

My Cup Runneth Over.

I am so very blessed.