Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Calling All Bloggers


The Tennessee Snail, or perhaps The Snailette, has entered a contest with a local radio station in Clarksville, TN. You see, the winning couple will receive an all expenses paid wedding. We could really use your support. If you look to the right, you will see a link that will take you to the page to vote. it will only take a couple of minutes and you can vote once a day until the 31st of January.

I'd like to take a moment and tell you a little about my sister and her fiance' Mike. My sister is the glue that holds teh Snail clan together. Being the youngest, she caught a lot of hell from her two older snail bro's, but we love her dearly. As we grew older and began our own families, she naturally did the same.

Not more than a year after having her first child, we began to notice Xavier was developing a little slower. He was diagnosed with Autism. My sister quickly began to devour information and talk to people, learning as much about Autism as she could. She continues to work 110% to make sure Xavier has every opportunity available to him to grow into a bright & vibrant young man.

When Xavier was 4, Marriah became pregnant with her second child, a beautiful young girl, Skylar. Skylar reminds me so much of her mother, but that is for another blogpost. Shortly thereafter, she was expecting #3. There was a great deal of complications with this pregnancy. A week before her due date, my sister was rushed to the hospital, only to find out she had lost her infant son. Sebastian holds a special place in my sister's heart.

Unfortunately, this was not the end of the difficult road my sister was to travel. Less than a week later, her now ex-husband, was on the front page of the local newspaper- ensnared in a scandal of infidelity, prostitution & general asshattery. (Okay, the asshattery part was my opinion, just sayin') She picked herself up by the bootstraps and soldiered on, moving to Tennessee to stay with my parents until she could get her family back in order. Here she continued to further her education and provide for her children. In an effort to learn more about Autism & how to provide for those with special needs, she completed a two-year Occupational Therapy program at the local college and now works in that field.



It had been over six years since losing Sebastian & dealing with the ex; my sister had lost her faith in men. The prospects on the horizon didn't look great, until Mike entered her life. I can honestly say, I don't know how he did it - She is a tough nut to crack. His patience & persistence will go down in the books, they may even use his courtship as a training tool in future generations. I meet him for the first time at my parents house last Christmas, watching him with my sister and her children is beautiful, he is quiet and gentle. Months later, I was equally impressed at my parents house, preparing for the retirement BBQ for my father. He just showed up the day before, asking what needed to be done. There is sort of an unspoken rule in our family while preparing for a BBQ, you just work, we know what needs to be done and we just do it. He fit right in.

He is currently deployed in Iraq, returning on a two-week leave in June; this is when they plan to get married. Winning this contest would be an amazing gift for their family. Please, as a personal favor to me, take the time to vote for Marriah & Mike! If you feel compelled, you could give me a little link love and blast this out on your blog too!




The Christmas presents Mike "fired from a cannon" in Iraq to Tennessee.




19 comments:

Kate Geisen said...

That is a wonderful story and it strikes home on several levels for me. Your love for your sister shines through. I'm on it, and I'm including a link to this post in my next blog post as well. Congratulations and best wishes, Mike and Marriah!

RockStarTri said...

voted. Will use the chicago voting method - vote early and often!

Also, had to put somthing about a "last train to...." Sorry.

Anonymous said...

Will do!

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

Wow. What a story. Good luck.

I'm sending my seven readers here.

C said...

I voted!

Pam @ herbieontherun.com said...

Very cool. Voting now.

PS - I'm only like an hour from Clarksville.

Andrew Opala said...

touching ... I'll check it out.

B.o.B. said...

Aw! Such a nice post. I'll go vote now!

Anonymous said...

Just read this story and you can count me as a voter. I really hope they win!
And hello from Indiana....Your 'ol buddy, Regan

RBR said...

Moving enough story that is made me willing to register to an out of state radio website that will most likely sell my email address to porn spammers just so I could vote for the deserving couple.

Well done, Peachy, well done.

Best of luck to your sister and her betrothed and wishing him a safe and speedy return.

Anne said...

I just tried to register but it appears there's a glitch...probably on my end. Will try again later. They are certainly deserving!

Anonymous said...

Thank you all for your support...You do not know how much this means to me!! I most definatly could see the votes climb today!! Just wanna say you all ROCK!! With love, Marriah #56

Turbo Photographs said...

You had me at hello. Going to vote now ...

Lily on the Road said...

Heading on over to vote, once I clear the tears from my eyes. Your love for your family is just so amazing. Thanks for sharing this story.

Nitmos said...

Wow, pretty cool! Way nicer than I would ever be to family. I will vote.

The Boring Runner said...

Did I miss it? Where is the link?

joyRuN said...

How awesome for them to have found each other. I'll be voting for sure!

Old Man said...

671 votes

Julie said...

Oh Thomas,
Tears are currently falling down my cheeks! What a lovely tribute and story. I have to go and see how and the heck I can vote:) Wishing your sister and her dream man a happy life and lots of votes!