Ronnie was born on December 18th, 1974. He weighed 6lbs 2oz and was 20in long. He was born with eyes of blue, but they changed to brown when he was six months old. Ronnie was a perfectly healthy baby in every aspect.

Always at my side or on my hip. where he liked best to be, I guess that was why Ronnie never got into much mischief, he was most definitely a blessing from God above . Ronnie and I had the best times together, he would love to watch me clean the house, cook dinner, bake cookies, everything I did and everywhere I went we were never apart. Ronnie loved to sing to me, it didn't have to be but a few words and my heart would Thank God everyday for this child of mine.

I remember when I brought his brother Chris home from the hospital, Ronnie looked up at me with such a forsaken look in his eyes and said, "Mommie, how come you brought a new baby home, don't you love me anymore?" I gently placed Chris into his Dad's arms, and held Ronnie for the longest time. Then I explained to him that Mommie had plenty of love in her heart to go around for everyone. I would often tell Ronnie "I loved him as big as the sky" and he would ask me, "Mommie how big is the sky?" and I would tell him, "As big as the whole wide world!" So after that Ronnie would always hold out his arms as far as he could reach and say, "Mommie I Love You More!"

As a preschooler Ronnie seemed to do alright. Ronnie never seemed to have much of an appetite, until what seemed overnight he started eating enormous amounts of food yet never gained any weight. All he wanted to do was sit and watch T.V. I called the Doctor and explained how Ronnie was acting unusually different. The Doctor said to bring him in and he would run some blood test on Ronnie, after leaving the office and upon arriving home, we received a call asking us to bring Ronnie to the hospital, that the results showed Ronnie to be Hyperglycemic and that we would need to start Ronnie on insulin right away. Once there the Doctor started to explain how he came about the results of the blood test and that Ronnie's blood sugar was at 275 and normally it should be much lower. After preceeding to re-check the Doctor discovered the blood sugar to be normal. The Doctor said "sometimes this happens", yet still concerned, he ordered a three hour glucose tolerence test as well as a number of other blood studies done on Ronnie. All of the test turned out normal, we were then told Ronnie might be a borderline Diabetic, and to just keep an eye on him.

When Ronnie was three and Chris was just a little over a year old, we added a new addition to our family, a son, his name was Ryan. Ryan will always be a part of us. He is with God now and there he will remain until it is our time to be re-united. He is and always will be Forever in our Hearts.

Life was never the same after Ryan's passing. We had no one to talk with and no one seemed to want to talk with us about our Loss. I would cry all the time, I became so depressed, it was said by someone with in the family that they thought I was going crazy because all I did was cry. I was devastated, not crazy! My Life had been shattered and I had no idea how to pick up the pieces of my heart and go on. It was expected of me, to just forget my loss, as if you can wipe away a life as if it never existed, how cruel people can be. For you see in there eyes I had more children, as they put it, so I should "Be Thankful that Ryan wasn't my only child." Be Thankful, of course I was Thankful but not because of that, I Loved My Children and they were and always will be the very being of my heart and soul. Oh Yes, I was Very Thankful for my two living children I still had to Love and Hold, but Ryan was my baby too, his dying would never ever change that. Why couldn't people understand, Ryan would always be our Son.

Two months after losing Ryan to "Crib-Death", I found out I was pregnant again, nine months later I gave birth to our daughter, Jennifer. I almost lost her when I was around six months along. I had horrible pains, and I was crying laying in on the kids bed. Little Ronnie came in and sat with me and asked me if I was okay? I told him that I would be alright, he sat their with me caressing my hair until I felt better, he never once left my side. God love him. So I truly do mean it when I say "My children are the very essence of my heart and soul. Their very existence is what has given me the strength to go on for all these years.

As Ronnie was turning six and entering into Kindergarden, I started noticing these habits he would habitually perform. Being he was just starting school I threw it to the wind. But then some very bizare almost compulsive or ritualistic repetitive behavior began taking place. I was getting letters from the school telling me of how this seemily very shy, quiet, well behaved child was now getting into trouble. The letters stated that Ronnie couldn't keep his hands off of the other children and that he had been caught hitting and kicking some of the children on the playground. Also that he was distracting the classroom with his verbal-outbursts.

At home they started slowly and then became increasingly worse. Ronnie's lips would get so chafed and sore from his repeated licking of them. He started jerking his head and shoulders, there was even a time when while lying on the floor in front of the television, Ronnie would all of a sudden jump up off of the floor and come back down on his knees this would become repetitive to the point of his knees turning black and blue. When told to "Stop That" his reply would be, "What, I am not doing anything or I can't!" The school thought Ronnie needed glasses because of his eye-twitching. He did not. His verbal-outburst became worse. Ronnie was being labeled as a "Problem Child" it was said that he had either emotional and or behavioral problems. At home he was so quick to learn and excelled in everything he tried, but at school, after two months into his first year the decision was made to hold Ronnie back.

Summertimes were less stressful for Ronnie. By now, I am sure we were thougt of as "Neurotic Parents" as often as took our children to the Doctors. After many discussions with the Doctor it was established that all that could be found was Ronnie had what they called "Nervous Tics". However that did not explain any of the other manifestations that Ronnie was displaying. When ever we left home Ronnie would somehow inhibited his motor manifestations and motor movements only to have them emerge explosively at home. During Ronnie's Second and Third years in school, his repetitive/compulsive behavior became intense. These included nose twitching, facial grimacing, shoulder, arm and leg jerking, quick repetitive hand and finger movement. Ronnie would jerk his head from side to side or just to one side excessively. His verbal-outburst would include snorting, barking, yelping (as it is called), obscendities (in rapid repetitions) coughing or grunting. These would all be done sometimes together or a combination of just a few.

It was sometime later, I was handed an article by (at that time) my Mother-In-Law Dee, as I began reading I noticed alot of what I was reading was just what Ronnie was suffering through. I called the Doctor and asked if he had ever heard of "Tourette Syndrome", he said "Yes", and set up an appointment with a Neurologist in Rochester, NY at Strong Memorial Hospital, for Ronnie to see. We were on our way to finally having an answer.

Once at Strong Memorial Hospital, Ronnie was examined by Dr. McBride. After the examination the Doctor called us into her office, and preceded to say, "Your son, has a Neurological Muscle Disorder called "Tourette Syndrome" and he also has "Attention Deficit Disorder" which is quite a common association with people who have TS." Dr. McBride then went on to say, "It is "Attention Deficit Disorder" which adds to the inconsistency of Ronnie's performance at school, his distractibility, and his quick reactivity to stimuli including his "short fuse" which gets him into trouble. His Father, Ron and I asked the Doctor, "What can be done to help Ronnie?" The Doctor replied, "Usually, we can give medication but in Ronnie's case it would be unwise because he also has "Nervous Tics" so the medication for "Tourette Syndrome" would be counter-productive to the "Tics" and visa-versa." Dr. McBride went on to say, "As to what caused Ronnie's condition, it is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain the reasons had not been determined yet but that 50%-70% of cases appeared to be hereditary. Ronnie's "Tourettes" would be with him through out his Life. And that "Tourette Syndrome" often gets worse during puberty and sometimes stabalizes during adulthood, although there are exceptions to the rules."

We had our answer finally after all these years, once at home Ronnie turned to his Dad and I and all he said was, "I don't want you to treat me any different because of this!" We could have just cried, what a selfless human being that stood before us, Oh what a gift "God" had given us in our son Ronnie.

Over the years, Ronnie suffered alot at the hands of some very ignorant and cruel children as well as some adults. Ronnie is an adult now and has grown into a fine young man. Through all he has suffered he found solace in the "Martial Arts", "Boxing" and "Grappling". Ronnie is attending College and studing "Computer Science", Ronnie excells at all he attemps and he has accomplished plenty, but that is not to say he does not struggle, for everyday will always be a struggle for Ronnie. He is our son and we are so very Proud of him. Ronnie has also met a wonderful woman to share his Life with and her name is Jill. Their gift from the Lord is named "Madison!".

Chris