Growing in Atlanta

By Norma Ramer

Stationed state side for two months at Ft. McPherson, Georgia, was the order, but that was changed to fourteen months. We were in Atlanta for fourteen months. I often compare that time to winning the lottery. Funny thing about winning the lottery. It would be nice to know what the winner's life was like before winning. How did they win, and what did that feel like? How did it change their life? That's the way I wrote the book, a little about the before, during (which I wouldn't trade for all the lottery winnings), and how it changed our lives forever

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 7, 2018
• ISBN: 9781642583052

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Growing in Atlanta

Norma Ramer

Copyright © 2018 by Norma Ramer

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

1

It’s September 4, 2003. I have tried to call Kathy today to find out about Melonie’s evaluation. Kathy is my daughter’s stepmother. Melonie lives with her and my ex-husband, Joe, in El Paso, Texas. My husband, Paul, and I live in Farmington, New Mexico. Our daughter is blind and autistic. She is twenty-three years old and no longer attends public school, so she is being evaluated for job placement. This evaluation is very important so I pray about.it. I pray because I experienced what prayer can do when I was in Atlanta, Georgia. No, I didn’t grow up in Atlanta and wasn’t raised there, but I was stationed there at Fort McPherson for fourteen months instead of two.

Originally, Melonie and I were supposed to be in Atlanta for two months for the purpose of Melonie receiving a matched donor for a corneal transplant, but my orders were changed, and God gave us the experience of a lifetime back in 1983 and 1984. Reflecting back on it is almost an everyday thing especially when something this important is happening. This evaluation will tell us if Melonie can work; and if so, doing what. We have no idea what the future holds for her. Her future would look so bleak being blind and autistic if I didn’t know better. People in Atlanta taught me better than that.

Last Sunday, I shared with a stranger who had just moved from Atlanta, a little bit of what it was like back in those memorable days. He asked, Were you just there? It was then that I realized it had been twenty years ago since we were there. It seems like it was yesterday. For many years, I knew I needed to thank the people that God placed in my life to help me when I needed it the most. Guilt overwhelmed me as I talked with this man because I had not stayed in contact with the people I thought about nearly every day.

When I went home, I sat down to write a thank you letter, that I would send, and struggled writing it. I let my bookkeeper for my job, and friend I have known since second grade, read it. She told me I should write a story instead. Funny she said that. When I was stationed in Atlanta, I often said, I should write about these things someday but I don’t think anyone would believe it. Now I’m thinking, Who would be interested? We had such a wonderful time there. The only thing I can compare it with is winning the lottery or something like that. If someone won the lottery, it would be interesting to know what their life was like before they won and what it is like since winning. Well, Melonie and I won the lottery (it felt like). Given the choice, I would choose our experience in Atlanta. It was better than winning the lottery; and if people can feel just a little of what I felt when I was there, it’s finally time to write about it. I’ll start where a lottery winner might start before winning, or in my case, two years before Atlanta.

When Melonie was born on April 29, 1980, her dad and I were in shock for about a week following the news that she was blind. We spent that time on a private ward in an army hospital thinking of the possibility of putting her up for adoption. We had no bonding with her during that week, and she was left all alone in the nursery except for the care of the hospital staff. The only thing that changed our hard hearts was an army couple named Martha and Ernie who had five children of their own coming to visit us and demanding to look at this infant even though visiting hours were over and the nursery was closed. According to Martha, this little one had been alone in that nursery long enough; and with her persuasion, hospital rules were broken, and she soon carried our baby out in her arms. She and Ernie oohed and ahhed about how beautiful she was and how special blind people were even though Melonie had deformed eyes, which were underdeveloped. They wanted to adopt her and thought she would be the perfect addition to their family.

Before the night was over, Joe was holding Melonie and carrying her. He was now the proud father and the plans for adoption were no longer a consideration. We were suddenly both proud parents of our beautiful baby girl and took her home. We loved her dearly; but in spite of bonding with her, our marriage ended.

Disheartened about her handicap and a failed marriage, my loving family with lives of their own and a caring ex-husband, could not keep me from feeling this huge responsibility for me and my daughter. This and the letdown I felt from God after asking for his help, which was followed by divorce, made me feel hopeless.

Everything, including Melonie’s quality of life, depended on me, or so I thought. I didn’t know then what I know now. Before the divorce, her dad and I were stationed at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. We were both active duty army. We took Melonie to the Air Force emergency room one day because the Air Force was closer to our residence than the Army on the other side of town. They found she had an ear infection, but they had questions about her blindness. The Army had done all they could do for her regarding her blindness. Her ear infection quickly healed, but they recommended an appointment with Dr. Waring in Atlanta Georgia who was an ophthalmologist. They felt he might be able to help us if we could take her some weekend to Atlanta. He was so qualified in his field that he trained other doctors in