Mom Chose My Name Christine: GOD KNEW IT TOO

By Christine Schorpp

Christine's mom had movie star looks, and her dad did as well. They met by chance and fell deeply in love at a young age. Despite the timing, they decided to have Christine. The road was rough, but her dad's endless ambition made their lives comfortable rather quickly. However, tragedy struck when Christine's grandparents both died.

This is a story of a mom who was willing to give up her career ambitions and raise a daughter who always felt in the shadow. Christine's mom had lost both her parents and her sister. Then her own daughter, Christine, was hit with a mysterious illness that would be prevalent for many years, later causing Christine to lose her job due to the awkward way the disease takes over the body. Was the cause Agent Orange, PCBs from the trash dump near their New Jersey home, or was it the stress of many precipitating events?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 17, 2025
• ISBN: 9798895263235

Book preview

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Mom Chose My Name Christine

GOD KNEW IT TOO

Christine Schorpp

ISBN 979-8-89526-322-8 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-89526-323-5 (digital)

Copyright © 2024 by Christine Schorpp

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

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Introduction

Chapter 2

The Grandparents

Chapter 3

Cousins

Chapter 4

The White Picket Fence

Chapter 5

The Son

Chapter 6

Track and Field

Chapter 7

Where Did This Myasthenia Gravis Come From?

Chapter 8

My Ex-Husband

Chapter 9

The Courtship

Chapter 10

Life with the Husband

Chapter 11

The Pugs

Chapter 12

Andy the Fawn Pug

Chapter 13

The Clay Artist Is Born—Mom

Chapter 14

The Palomino

Chapter 15

My Husband's Cheerleader

Chapter 16

The Eye Doctors

Chapter 17

Employer Found It a Nuisance

About the Author

Chapter 1

Introduction

I was born in 1969. My mom met my father when she was just eighteen years old, in the parking lot of a Mickey's Donut Land, in East Brunswick, New Jersey. My dad had returned from Vietnam after being a mechanic serving our country and was looking forward to utilizing his GI Bill to become a history teacher after enrolling at Trenton State College. God had other plans for both of my parents, as they met in passing on a mundane, ordinary day in a small suburb of NYC.

Though my father was actually attracted to my aunt Roberta, who was in her midtwenties as Dad was, my mom looked like actress Elizabeth Taylor, with her long, straight, dark, full hair and her sapphire-blue eyes. Dad himself looked like a young version of actor Robert Conrad. Meeting your soulmate at that time was a lot different than today because you'd have to seize the moment and actually wink, talk, and have a conversation with someone, instead of using social media and cell phones. Also, people got dressed back then in what I like to refer to today as real clothing. People dressed in jackets and pantyhose and wore real shoes, and one didn't see a lot of spandex, piercings, or tattoos that you'd see today. The times were a lot more wholesome back then, now looking back.

Mom's mother was a young woman, born and raised in England, and coming to the United States, she was far from her own family, so her daughters and husband were her life. I'm going to share some family photos, as this is my memoir, save for a lot of years when things were actually just normal, mundane times, which are times that all of us take for granted—times when I never so much as took an aspirin or saw any doctors, other than the dentist. I recall an old elementary school teacher once said to our class that no day should be a boring day if you know how to read a book, because in a few minutes, you could be anyplace that book is set.

Mom's father was a cook in WWII and met my grandmother in Great Britain. He married her there and brought her back home to Newark, New Jersey, and they later settled into a modest home in Keyport, New Jersey. That my grandfather was a cook and my father a mechanic when they served our country made for some good common ground. My grandfather was a handsome man, and my grandmother was a very beautiful and dutiful American wife. Though she was far from home, she raised her daughters to be proper women.

Unfortunate, or fortunate in God's eyes, my mom and dad really hit the ground running on their instant attraction, and thus I was conceived after my dad took my mom on a memorable trip to Lake George, New York. My father's parents had always taken him and his siblings to what was once called dude ranch country. There was quite the horse community in Lake Luzerne, with Roaring Brook Ranch and many stables. Dad always enjoyed horseback riding at the Painted Pony Ranch, and later I'd ride through there, but on our own horses.

I know that my grandparents were not happy that my mom was pregnant with me at such a young age, and I'm told that my grandfather, who died at fifty-five, six months after my grandmother died at fifty-four, had my father promise him that he would never divorce my mother. My grandmother, as you will see from some photos, went on many vacations with us, and I'm told that my parents were so poor starting out that they often brought me to my grandparents' home so they could feed me. My parents referred to me as the moaner because I was always crying. Later on, it was discovered I had a congenital heart defect and a hole in my heart, but that was not found for many years. God was watching over me and had me break my ankle, which was the luckiest break you could ever imagine.

I'd later realize that my myasthenia gravis (MG) is aggravated by extreme heat and extreme cold. It's ironic because years after I got divorced, relocated back to upstate New York, and bought my own place in Saratoga County, within walking distance of a nursing home, I'd have a conversation with a resident about loving the

Reviews for Mom Chose My Name Christine

[Christine Schorpp · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an amazing story that touches on many facets of life, and could impact so many people.