Walker 1 Corbett Walker Lynn M.

Raymond ENGL 1103 10/18/2013 Who You Are In our lives, we tend to go through millions of everyday ordinary experiences, but somehow, we still tend to go through many unordinary experiences. There are people who travel the world, and there are those who never leave town. There are people that get to live out their dreams and there are those who give up. But what is the point of all this? The point I am trying to make, is that in our lives we will go through things, even if they are unwanted, that very few other people will have gone through. One such instance is with a little boy named Clyde McKinley. It is August the eighth in the year of 1907. Some pretty substantial things have just happened. Clyde has just found out about some information that he was never expecting, information that did not seem real and information that almost killed him. Going back a few hours, Clyde was with his parents and they were celebrating his eighteenth birthday. Clydes day had been going so well. He had just found out that he was accepted into Ohio State University and that in two weeks when school got out they would all be going to spend some time in the Appalachian Mountains for a family trip. But before anything else happened, Clydes parents sat him down to tell him a story that he would never forget. And this is how it went. Clyde, as you know, you were born on a lovely little Friday in August, it was August eight of 1889 to be exact. And you were the most handsome boy ever. But also on this day there was another little boy born and his name was Timothy. Timothy came out as healthy little boy weighing eight pounds five ounces and was the first son to Olive and Oliver McKinley. Now for

Walker 2 about the next four months, after he was born, things were absolutely fantastic for him and his family. He had three older sisters, Mary, Catherine and Ester, and they were all so excited to have a little brother. They would help take care of Timothy like the best bunch of nannies you could ask for. This family was also one of the closest families we knew. They would do everything together, when one hurt they would all hurt, when something needed to be done they would all help out and when one was having fun they were all having fun. Unfortunately though, this was a short-lived fantasy and this family would be split up in ways you would not imagine. A few months after Timothy was born, Mrs. McKinley started to become ill. Now right before this had happened Mr. McKinley decided that they needed to get away from the hustle and bustle of Meigs County, Ohio. So he surprised his family with a secret weekend trip. They all packed themselves up and took off to visit Lake Erie for the weekend. Now when the rest of the family, especially the three daughters found out about this, they were so excited. They were going to have so much fun. As soon as they got there, the girls went straight into the lake splashing and giggling even Mr. McKinley joined in on the fun with his three little girls. While this was happening, Tim was with his mom and let me tell you, Mrs. McKinley had such a smile on her face you would have been jealous. She was just having the grandest time with her little boy playing in the sand and spending time with him. Now throughout the rest of this weekend, the family picnicked and swam and played in the sand and had by far the most relaxing time that they had had in a long time. This family time high was short lived though. Within a few weeks after this trip, Mrs. McKinley came down with a sickness that would be devastating to the family. She came down with Typhoid Fever, something that had been known to be a killer. Thankfully, the family had caught it in time so that the doctors could heal Mrs. McKinley, or so they thought. The next few weeks were very stressful. Everyone had to make sure that Mrs.

Walker 3 McKinley was taking her medication, and that she was being taken care, while they also had to make sure that Tims needs were being met, and that the everyday household needs were too. Now life kept going on and everyday Mrs. McKinley seemed to be getting better. Family and friends were coming by to check on her and too help out with anything and everything that needed to be done. But suddenly within a matter of days, Mrs. McKinleys health plummeted. She became very lethargic and just looked lost, almost like she had given up hope that she would ever survive this horrible disease. Then only a few days after they had celebrated Thanksgiving, Mrs. McKinley was gone. The typhoid fever had come back stronger than before and took her life right before the families eyes, and no one saw it coming. In fact they had all thought that she was going to be all right. Now when Mrs. McKinley died, Tim was only four months old and Mr. McKinley had just lost his job, which was both a blessing and a curse. It helped, because he was able to be there with his wife during the last few days of her life, but now he had to make sure that his kids would be taken care of, especially little Timothy, and that he would get a job before the little money that they had ran out. Things did start to come around though, but not in ways that would be expected. You see Clyde; this is only where our story really starts to become one of a kind. About a month after Mrs. McKinley passed away, Mr. McKinley did the unthinkable, he packed everything up so he could move, but first he did something else. He gave all four of his kids away then moved from Meigs Ohio to Hiawatha, Kansas where his parents and other family members lived. But what about his four children, where did they go? Well Mr. McKinley split them all up and for some reason, he thought that this was the best thing he could do for his family. So he put his kids in to four different homes with four separate families so that he would never see them again and who knew if the kids would ever see each other again. The girls were

Walker 4 given away to different family members on Mrs. McKinleys side of the family and then Timothy was given to some neighbors that lived in Harrisonville. But how could something like this be done? How could he give up his kids? Well from what we can tell you, Mr. McKinley took his wifes death very hard. Harder than anyone we have ever known. Things got so bad at a point that he almost killed himself. Somehow though, giving up his kids and moving away seemed to help him. Maybe he was to scared to do everything on his own or maybe he couldnt look at his kids without seeing his wife in their faces. But we will keep going. Moving on to the boy in this story, Timothy was given to two of the most loving and caring people Jonathan and Jillian Sterminster. They were an older couple, Jonathan being 52 years old and Rebecca being 34, they also lived in Harrisonville. Now Timothy was probably the luckiest out of any of his siblings. He was only 4 months old at this time and still had his whole life ahead of him. And because he was not old enough to remember his parents or siblings with out being told about them, he would not have to go through the heartache like the rest of his family. These two people though were probably the best parents in the world. They raised Timothy to become a gentlemen like no other and helped him through some difficult times in his life. We have seen this boy grow up in to one of the sweetest boys we have ever met. He has been something special to his family and we know that they could not imagine life without him. Now this is where the story ends, but Clyde there is more that we would like to share with you. You see Clyde, the boy in this story was not actually named Timothy, and his name was Clyde. And that little boy is you. You are the boy that was playing in the sand with Mrs. McKinley, and she was your mom. When your birthfather, Preston, came to us almost 18 years ago, he was in bad shape. He was in a mode of desperation and we were the ones to save him by adopting you. Clyde you have been the most amazing son to us and we cant wait to see what

Walker 5 happens with the rest of your life, but before we move on, there is something we would like you to do. Take this phone number and call your Father Preston. So you see, things in life can go from good to bad in just a few short moments. We never know what is going to be around the corner or what tomorrow will hold for us. All we can do is keep on keeping on and living throughout our days. Clydes life just went from something normal to something completely out of the ordinary. Everyones lives are filled with strange and exciting things; we just have to keep living to see what they are.