Posted by
Tom "Papa" Bryant on Thursday, January 18, 2007 7:04:44 PM
As you know from my previous post I took some time off from my relatively short blogging career just before Christmas. Well, as Paul Harvey says, now for the REST of the story....
As many know, I was a student at the University of North Florida. To facilitate that, my wife Kelly and I took a job managing a self storage facility that provided us and the kids with a free apartment, with free electricity and water. It didn't pay much, but concidering we had no housing-related bills and a very flexible work schedule it seemed like a good deal.
It wasn't. I cannot go into all the details, but both Kelly and I are currently suing said former employer concerning exposure to black mold.
We moved, and since we didn't have a lot of money to find new housing while I looked for work, we moved in with my parents. In Spartanburg, South Carolina.
I thought that would be the end of my college career. But I applied to a college near Spartanburg, and to my surprise, I was accepted. I am now...
a Clemson Tiger!
But it was not without sacrifice. Because of the health issues with my wife concerning the mold, I live on campus while Kelly and all three of my children live in Spartanburg with my parents. Its only an hour away, but since the commute daily would entail almost 200 miles round trip, we thought it would be better to sacrifice now and try to find both work and family housing in Clemson for next term.
Its not been easy on the youngest kids. Hannah and Travis, as some of you may know, have Aspberger's Syndrome, a form of autism that affects the emotional development of children. For those who have never heard of Aspberger's Syndrome, it was the reason Albert Einstein, Issac Newton, and Steven Spielburg had difficulty in school in their early childhood. It is hard to recognize, but many AS sufferers go on to productive lives, and a few, such as those I listed, go on to do great things. But they miss their dad, (and their dad misses them.)
If you, dear reader, would be so kind as to keep the Bryant family in your prayers, I promise to post more often (as often as class allows me to). For those who don't think that more writing by me is such a good deal, please keep us in your prayers anyways. ='D
Thank you and God bless,
Tom
(and Kelly, Sierra, Hannah and Travis)