A chapter from “An Artist’s Story,” the life story Lee wrote in his eighties. In his words, as he wrote them.

This chapter to my life story is about turning points. These turning points are the changes that take place in our lives that effect each one of us one way or another. Some are very dramatic and others are very subtle.

We all have had several major turning points in our lives - like my first years in grade school, then Jr. High, graduating from high school, my first meeting with Lois, getting married, working at Buick, then buying our first home on Nebraska Ave., and our first car, Wow!

We some times don’t even realize we have passed a turning point while we are living through it. We often need the perspective of looking back in order to recognize we had just passed one. As you read through this Life Story of mine you will see lots of turning points, big and small. Now that I can look back and see that each of our children were some of the most important turning points of all.

You have read about Kenny, Rod, Barb and Larry. Now I want to write about two other people who became part of this family and were very important to us. First let me sort of set the stage for this part of my Life Story.

It was in 1940 that I married my high school sweetheart. We had both graduated from Flint Central High School and we were looking forward to a long life together. Back in those days the majority of young women felt their own real future lay in marrying the right man (that was me Ha Ha ). Lois wanted very much to be a “stay at home mom“, and she did a wonderful job of fulfilling that role. When we were young and starting out we worked hard but most of all we worked together in raising this young family of four. Before we knew it they were all grown up and on their way into their own futures - and handling their own individual turning points.

I had a successful job at Buick and Mom did a wonderful job of keeping track of our expenditures and helping us keep out of debt. We were not rich, understand, and we kept away from those plastic cards that everyone seemed to be enamored with. We were mostly content with life and things the way they were.

It was some time in 1963 that Rod left home for a carrier in the U. S. Navy. Barbara had graduated from Bentley High School and she was busy working at a job in the Buick Motor Division’s main office, and Larry was still in school.

I believe it was about this time that we began to think about adopting a child into our family, mostly because of the loss of Kenny. We often talked about the possibility of adoption. We both understood our role as parents after having already raised three children to almost adulthood. Once we had decided this, the next step seemed to come easy. We felt led to adopt an older child and we accepted the recommendation of the Social Service agent in charge of placement. Before we knew it we had taken Steven (Smith) into our home. He was just a little past four years of age and he was a real challenge to say the least.

In 1972 he had this picture taken in school when he was thirteen and had just returned to school after a week or two of unexplained absences.

This picture was taken in 1995 when Steven had become 36 years old. The picture came to us in sort of a round about way. We have heard very little from him or his whereabout over the years. I am not going to elaborate on his history of comings and goings. I will just say at this at this point in my story of the past, that he did not fold into our family or our lifestyle as we had hoped. I am convinced that if you can not make contact with a child within the first few years of his early life, there is a strong possibility that you can never bond with them or have a close attachment with them, no matter how hard you try, and the Lord knows we tried.

In Steven’s case, the care that we had hoped to provide became unhealthy and our concern and worry became all consuming to the point of where we nearly lost our perspective as well as our ability to continue our prayers for him and his future. In Proverbs 22.6 Solomon the King of Israel said, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it“. Steven did not comply with our influence but we pray that he will carry the memory of it until the day that he dies. This proverb reflects that if you give a child a good beginning and train him as but you can the influence of the early training will remain with him for the rest of his life. It was just a year or two after Steven became a part of our family we met Carol Ann. She was a cute child, eight years of age and she became our second daughter. She had spent several years in and out of foster care, however she seemed well adjusted and smart well beyond her age. She had spent a year in a foster home in Milford Michigan under the care of the Gibsons. She liked her foster parents and did very well in school but I think she had a real desire to become a member of a permanent family of her own. We felt that she needed a strong mother and father who could give her the stability of a family life and this is what we strived to provide.

This picture of Carol Ann Mick was taken with out the glasses she was first wore when she first arrived at our home on Eastmoreland Dr. She was seven years old. It took her only a few short weeks to adjust to our new routine of the Mick household and all the new rules and wishes of her new parents. We were very much aware of her individuality and that she had qualities of her own. We could never say of her“I wonder where that characteristic came from“, that’s a dumb question anyway. What does it matter where something comes from. Carol is as she is and we love her as a member of our family and a child of God.

This picture is shown with her hair cut short in 1964. She has the smile that let you know she was here for good. No more foster homes. No more wondering if she would be moved if she did something wrong. We live in an achievement-oriented society and children do learn by overcoming obstacles. We always tried to set some goals for you kids but we wanted each one to learn the joys of having a few successes of your own. Carol had quite a few successes and she was able to develop many of her own. We always were proud of her accomplishments and realized that she had come a long way on her own. She grew up fast in our family, some times too fast. We found in our parenting that it was hard to be patient enough to give each one as much time as they needed to grow up. But grow up she did. She taught herself to play the saxophone and was very accomplished in its use. Then off to college in 1979 where she continued to be the top of her class.

I would like to stop here and put to rest a common myth about adopted children. It is not true that adopted children do not become attached to their adoptive parents and other relatives because they surely do became attached.

As for Carol Ann, she became attached to this family in a very early on. Oh yes, I know this is no genetic link between us but always remember that you are our daughter and your children are our grandchildren and you can count on it.

Yes, carol, you were a real turning point in our lives and we are glad and thankful for it.

May the Lord Bless You real good, your Mom & Dad.