Writing a blog of son Chris
February 12,2009
Marilyn P Johnson
Is it the magic. . . .
of being the youngest of nine children
in our combined families?
I was hard pressed to find young pictures of each child to do in their birthday month this year. But not with Christopher Cordell. Maybe that is what you do when you know he was going to be the last of our children-you take a lot of pictures.
I don’t think we spoiled him, maybe it was the time in our family when his turn on earth began. He was born 11, 1966. He was the only baby I carried full term. The others were born a week or two early. He was a happy, healthy fun-loving baby. It was just what the doctor ordered. We were in the throes of a divorce. Their dad Jerry, had other things on his mind that didn’t include me or our five children. We were all busy taking care of Chris. He was a fun baby and I subbed at many schools looking for a teaching job. We all enjoyed caring for baby Chris. It was like rally around the flag pole. Taking care of Chris was a family project and kept us busy so we didn’t worry about me being a single mom. We had to lose our big nice home and moved to a small one close to church and schools.
My interview to teach at Sun Valley School went something like this: Mr. Coyle said,
“You have the room next to my office and I have been watching your teaching. You re doing a great job even with the large class of third graders. But you have five children , you will always be out taking care of sick children.” I thought for a minute and replied. “Chris my youngest is sick with the chickenpox and I’m here teaching.”
“Where is your baby, he can’t go to Child Gardens Nursery when he is sick?”
“My three oldest children take turns every other day to take to take care of the baby at home. This way they don’t miss too much school.”
He laughed, “You figured out that problem, you have the job.”
Chris was the highlight of our day. He always needed us and seldom cried. Mater of fact he was too quiet. When he was three I took him to the doctor and he discovered he needed tubes in his ears and his tongue clipped. When the doctor placed Chris into my arms, his first word was, “Mother.”
I looked surprised, and the doctor explained. “Chris couldn’t hear well, and in order to talk, he needed hi tongue clipped. I thought Oh, my his cry was then quite loud and no baby talk. He picked up talking fast from his brothers and sisters. I was relieved that his talking showed no sign dullness. The doctor checked him in a few weeks and assured me Chris would be fine.
Chris went back to nursery school but became a bit aggressive. I came home one day and saw Bryan, age fifteen, had Chris sitting on his lap and he was slapping Chris’s cheeks, one side and then the other side. Chris sat there taking the blows silently. He sent Chris out to play with the other sibling in the back yard.
I asked Bryan for an explanation.
“The principal called from the nursery school and informed me that Chris was hitting the other boys! I was just teaching him to turn the other cheek.
A few weeks later the nursery principal called again and said Chris was behaving!! himself and not hitting any more.
Chris tried to do everything his brothers and sisters did. After church and dinner we all moved to the living room to read our Scriptures silently, Chris found a book, too, and laid on the couch to read also. We tried not to laugh because Chris was too young to read and often held the book up side down.
Christopher’s Pediatrician explained that he was deficient in calcium and was even wearing holes in his toenails. She put him on a high dose of calcium. His lungs were underdeveloped too. The doctor highly recommend sports. His older brothers and sisters were on the YMCA swim team. They taught Chris to swim. He was the youngest member of the team.
His first swim meet was the hardest. His brothers and sisters ran along side of the pool, cheered him on and somehow he finished. The crowd cheered for him, too. His doctor told me he would not be as tall as his older brothers. But he is the tallest now, six foot four.
Chris was allergic to cats. He loved them and wanted to play with them. His older siblings laid on the floor with him and talked to the neighbors cat through the sliding glass doors. But one day he slept over at a neighbors house in his sleeping bag and he let the cat sleep with
him. OH! Did he have terrible allergy attack by the time he got home! He was sick for a few days. He learned as he got older to ask his friends if they had a cat and if they did he would not go into their house. He even asked the girls when he was dating if they had a cat. If so he moved on.
When we moved to Fernley he took up running because Fernley didn’t have a swimming pool. Kay’s girls were all runners. Chris adjusted. He played the trumpet with Kay’s youngest daughter, Rachel. All in all Chris was a happy well adjusted boy. After graduating from high school he got a job at Scolari’s grocery story and earned money to go on a two year mission for the LDS Church. He served in Jamaica and Florida. He took a few collage classes and married a tall beautiful girl named Stacey and moved to Oregon and they are parents of three children. David, Jared and Kelsie. Their oldest son named David was born December 27, 1990 the same day as my birthday. But I’m somewhat older. I always know how old David is. I turn 78 this year and David will be 18. David is now taller than his dad. Sometimes for the fun of it, when Chris asks David to do household chores he stands up to his dad and says. “And who is going to make me?
