Suzi & Jimmy Reed Wedding Photo

to Suzi & Jimmy Reed's Nest

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~ OUR STORY ~

One day, I was at my mom's and her dear friend, Joyce, stopped over. Joyce read some poems & stories that I had written during high school and asked me if I would be interested in writing to someone in the military. I said, sure. I had quite a few pen pals around the world during Junior High and High School, so that sounded fun. I had just turned 21 and had no intentions of marriage, ever! She told me she had a nephew in Russia that might write to me. I always dreamed of going to Russia someday. So, I waited for her to call me with the address.

Joyce finally called and said that her nephew in Russia had no interest in writing me. But, she said that she had another nephew that probably wouldn't write me back, but she got his address anyway.

In August, I wrote Jimmy a letter and sent a picture of me with it. To my surprise, he wrote back. We started writing all the time. He sent me a picture of him, long hair and all! I thought, yuck! But, he seemed nice, so I kept writing to him. He came to Texas right after Christmas and we met. He turned out to be really adorable! He told me on the phone, on New Years, that he had fallen in love with me. No way, I said. We were just friends, that's all. Well, we kept writing and got together whenever he came home on leave. In September, he found out that he was being shipped overseas to Italy. He said that he didn't want to go without me. I didn't know what to do!

I called a dear lady from my church, Elizabeth, and we talked and prayed. Her husband was ex-Navy. I prayed and prayed about this situation. I had also fallen in love but didn't want to believe it.

In October, Jimmy came home on leave and asked me to marry him at Hermann Park in Houston. I said yes!

We were married at Memorial Baptist Church, January 23, 1993 and then he left for Italy at the end of that week. Finally, in June, he found a house to rent in Palau, on the island of Sardinia. Then, he came home and whisked me away to Europe! We spent 2 1/2 years living in Palau on the island of Sardinia, Italy!

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~ MIKE ~

I'm the cat. This is my story: I had a military family that lived in La Maddalena, Italy. They got orders back to the U.S. and just dumped me off at the Family Service Center because they didn't want to pay $100.00 to fly me with them. I lived at the Family Service Center on the base for quite a few weeks, being chased by horrible dogs. I also got into fights with the other cats there. For a couple of weeks, I meowed and meowed outside the Family Service Center door. Finally, mommy got tired of listening to me. She decided to catch me and saw that I was lovable. (She didn't like cats very much, but most dog people don't.)

Mommy surprised daddy, who out on the ship by bringing me home. We had an interesting ride to their house! I was scared to death! I crawled under the foot pedals while she was driving and we almost had a wreck. Then, when she screamed at me to get out from there, I ran and hid under the seat. She had to stop and get a ticket for the ferry ride from the island of La Maddalena to the island of Sardegna where they lived. I had enough of riding in the truck and I tried to escape but she slammed the door shut before I could make it out.

Mommy came and got back in the truck. We made the trip on the ferry and then up to the hill named Capo d'Orso where they lived. Capo d'Orso is "Bear Rock". All the tourists came there during the summer just to see this amazing rock that the wind had carved into the shape of a bear! Anyway, mommy took me inside and I made myself at home.

The next day, I heard mommy upset on the phone. She told me that daddy would be glad to see me when the ship came in and he got home and I was there waiting for him as a surprise but that they were mad at each other. In fact, she said she didn't even want to speak to him when she came home from work!

Mommy got home from work that night and daddy was outside waiting for her. The first thing he told her was that he had broken all the dishes and lost me! She figured he must have been madder than she was. But, then he explained... In Italy, they had these dish drying cabinets. You could put your dishes on this wire rack in the cabinet to dry. Well, the kitchen was tiny and they didn't have much space, so they just kept the dishes in there. Well, he had put too many in there and it broke. All the dishes came tumbling down with a crash! Scared the life out of me and so I ran!! Daddy hunted for me but I was too afraid to move. What if it happened again?

So, mommy and daddy both started calling me: "Here kitty, kitty." I wasn't about to move! Finally, I decided it might be ok. I meowed but didn't move. They called me some more and meowed some more. Finally, mommy realized I had been hiding under the futon in the living room the whole time! She got me out and they weren't mad at each other anymore. And, I got a new, loving family!

Read mommy's diary about me!

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~ LIRA ~

I'm the Shih-Tzu puppy. "How I Got My Name"
My mommy saw my picture on the bulletin board outside the post office on the base in La Maddalena, Italy while my daddy was away with the ship - USS Simon Lake AS-33. I was a Shih-Tzu puppy, gold & white. Mommy went up to Trinita (military housing) to Marlena Stewart's house to see me for the first time and talk to Marlena about how much I cost. Marlena bred my real mom and dad and I was the only puppy in the litter - so, I'm an only "child".

Marlena hadn't found anyone to adopt me yet and so she told mommy that if she couldn't find anyone that she would go ahead and take me back to the U.S. with them and name me Lire since I was born in Italy. Lire is the name for Italian money and if you spell it Lira it means harp. Mommy fell in love with me and went home and told daddy all about how cute I was! Marlena said I cost $500.00, but she would take two payment at $150.00 each.

So, mommy & daddy came and saw me together and wanted me because I was soooo adorable!! Mommy told daddy about Marlena's name for me. Daddy said, "So, are we going to name her Lire Francs?" (Italian money and French money) So, mommy decided to name me: Lira Francheska just for daddy and so I would have an Italian name!

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~ DINESH ~

This is our Sponsored Child. We learned about Dinesh during a special broadcast KSBJ 89.3 FM had about Compassion International. For the cost of eating out at a nice restaurant, once a month, we could greatly enhance a child's life in India. Through our support of only $22.00 a month, Dinesh is able to go to school, attend Bible studies, have one nutritious meal every day and most importantly - learn about Jesus Christ and how much Jesus loves him! India is one of the most overpopulated countries at this time, making survival for less fortunate children harsh. Compassion International has a wonderful, Christ-centered program there that provides hope for children like our sponsored child, Dinesh. Compassion International has a superb rating in that almost every penny coming from sponsors goes directly to the sponsored child's site. If you would be interested in learning more about this program, please visit my links page.

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