Brian Ray Stevens

Brian and big brother Mikey

Brian Ray Stevens, my youngest son,  was born on Sunday January 20th 1980, Super Bowl Sunday !  His Dad and I  could not agree on a name for him, so when the nurse came around asking for names she first went to the woman in the other bed.  I was trying to think of a good name quickly...I felt a little pressure that I had to be ready when they came to me.  (The other new Mom chose Brian) The nurse arrived at my bed and I said that sounds good, his name is Brian......Hmmm, lets see, a middle name?  Easy, I will give him my Fathers name, Ray :-) So that is how he was named..... what can I say, It was just a a nice name I hadn't  thought of using and it seemed to fit him  :-)

 

 Brain didn't care for school at all.  He made his Poppa (my Dad) promise to stop by the playground everyday to see him.  My Dad did just that on his way home to eat lunch. Poppa could be found daily talking to his grandson with a chain link fence between them.  I think he must have thought we were considering leaving him there so Poppa was his mid day assurance we hadn't abandoned him.  He preferred going to the beach everyday or staying home playing black jack, yes at age four! 

Happy near the beach, nothings changed.

With brother and cousins Amanda and Summer

Poetry Night 2nd Grade

Long hair on Brian ?

Brian second from the right .....

The Man he became "-)

Brian was very quite, the TOTAL opposite of his brother Mikey.  I had my next door neighbor watching him before he started school, she was in her late 70's, her name was Julie.  She would tell me he never talked to her throughout the entire day.  He would find a book, hand it to her and climb up on the couch next to her waiting to be read to. He loved Julie and she him, he just wasn't a talker :-)


  Brian used to get so excited at the grocery store when we went down the diaper isle...."bipers!" he would shout out for all to hear, as if they understood his excitement.  I would often find a piece of bologna under his bed, with a bite out of it....Or a block of cheese with a bite of it.  A whole new meaning to, a "bite to eat".

I had to cut all tags out of his shirts, underwear, pants etc.... He would not wear his socks up like boys do, he wanted them folded neatly down like anklets.  He hated when I blew his hair dry before bed.....he was a fan of Cindy Lauper when he was four or five, so I told him if he didn't let me dry his hair he would wake up and his hair would be standing straight up like hers and it would stay that way.  Never another complaint about the hair dryer.


Brian was one of those students that always wanted A's and always got them and perfect attendance was also very important to him.  Brian is a Manager at a local specialty store called  Trader Joe's.  He loves the company and takes his job very seriously. He has a great work ethic that he credits to my Dad, his Poppa.

Brian knows the kind of man my Dad was and he has made many life choices based on what Poppa would have done.  I love that about him, just one of the many things I love about him.  Brian and I have breakfast once a week and I treasure that time with him and find myself looking forward to it every week.

My baby is thirty one today and we had lunch together to celebrate. Next week we will have a family dinner, birthday boys choice of what we have to eat.... Today as I sat across from him at lunch he said many things that made me fill with pride.  He is a good man indeed and I am so happy he came into my life all those years ago on Super Bowl Sunday.  I reminded him he watched his first football game with his Mom, on the day he was born.....
This is what echos from my heart today.....