Though it hasn't always been easy, I am very close to both my immediate and extended family. We all have our differences, and after a recent whitewater rafting adventure, reconfirmed that we do not work well as a team under pressure.
My
father lucked out and had three wonderful daughters who excelled at absolutely
no sport. Even worse, our mother
tried to get us to learn to play the piano with
very little luck. And if sharing a house with four women were not
enough, every dog we've ever owned has been a female. If you ever want to meet a
patient man, do not even bother with Ed Odom. He's had enough. Do you
blame him? He escapes the female-dominated household by heading to Lion Oil
Refinery where he has worked ever since I can remember as an operations engineer
at the water plant. He's an avid fan of horseracing and finds solace at
Oaklawn Park. Dad finally has found something he can do with his girls...camping. We all look forward to the return of seasonal family camping trips from the days of our childhood.
That's me and Dad at Turner Field during the 2003 Braves season.
Aside from forcing us into piano lessons
with no outcome besides countless headaches, my mother is a pretty good
sport. She owned two Merle Norman Cosmetics stores while we were growing up, one
for twenty years and
another concurrently for 10 years. However, Pat got out of the make-up
industry right around the time her three daughters 
reached the "make-up"
years--perhaps not the most economical decision. After retiring from the
cosmetics arena, she dabbled in the travel industry, substitute teaching, and
being a house mom. She got too annoyed with us (and vice versa because she was
home ALL the time), so she moved
on to the Executive Director position at the local
YWCA.
As though her plate was not quite full, she joined the school board and became
an assistant coach for the EHS varsity girls soccer team as Coach Smooth--the
bus driver. My
bus-driving, make-up guru of a mom has since retired from the Y. Not one to take
anything sitting down, especially retirement, Mom is currently the 
Regional Director for the American Lung Association. She spends her days working on community programs
such as smoking cessation classes for teens, risk awareness, and other things. She is also one of the five women starting
the company GoodBooks. The
company is modeled after the Tupperware, Mary Kay, and Pampered Chef structures
emphasizing home parties as sales venues. Selling Christian books and materials,
Good Books & Company
aims to get the 90% of Christians who never step into a Christian
book store to read a Christian book. I'm excited for my mom as she's developing
this new exciting company. Mom recently accepted the position as Regional Director of the American Lung Association (Johnnie Walker Murphy Chapter). Mom definitely keeps herself busy now that all of her girls are out of the house!
Throughout
my life, buying the current issue of TV Guide has never been necessary.
Ever since I can
remember, Olivia has been able to recall the time and
channel of any program on the television. For years, her staple position was the
couch with remote in hand. Going into her junior year at the
University of Arkansas, lazy is the last word I can use to describe her. She has followed her heart and loves music, art, and anything with any culture. Her sense of humor never fails to bring a smile to faces
around 
her. She even founded a calculus club in high school--the Denominators--complete with t-shirts and all! Now, she may sound like a nerd, but I assure you she is anything but!
Exercising her hippie DNA, she spent summers '02 and '03 working for Southeastern
Expeditions as a raft guide on the Chattooga River. Having worked on the same
river three years earlier, I really enjoyed getting to visit her and relive my
river days. She has been lucky enough to travel a lot lately...some exciting adventures in Bolivia and then off to the
Caribbean to collect GPS data from the beach (yes, Olivia went to Bolivia to visit Vivian the Bolivian before going to the
Caribbean)! That's a picture of her pointing to Bolivia just before I put her on
the plane. She's currently majoring in Geology with a dual minor in Physics and
Anthropology; she plans on getting a graduate degree in Hydrology...the study of
water...very appropriate.
If Claire ever starts to tell you a
story, you better not have anywhere to be for a while. Her stories come complete
with ever
y explicable detail you can ever imagine. In preschool, Claire's class
was planning a big Thanksgiving party, complete with Indian names for each
child. Having a May birthday, Claire wanted
to be named "Mayflower" more than anything in the world. On the big naming day,
the teacher asked Claire what she wanted her name to be. Claire's name was not
"Mayflower." The teacher deemed Claire "Princess Many Words." It haunts her to
this day as one of the funniest thing her sisters h
ave ever heard. Claire's turned out pretty tough considering
the two sisters she had to put up with over the years. Wanting to be a writer,
this talent of words will finally pay off, and people can flip through the pages
at their leisure. Currently a sophomore at the
University of the South
in Sewanee, TN. She has endless Sewanee stories to tell--so get ready. At
Sewanee, Claire looks forward to immersing herself in literature and someday
becoming a high school English teacher before entering the publishing industry. She recently accepted the position of yearbook editor for the university for the next 3 years. Expect her to
leave her mark! She has fallen head over heels for Harvey Clifford Byrd, IV (we
call him "HC"). For the summer, she relaxed off the coast of Maryland
to be closer to him while she worked part-time in a t-shirt hut. HC's definitely
done his part to calm her down, but if you come near her pearl jewelry even he
can't help you!
I
am lucky enough to have wonderful grandparents nearby. I grew up playing at my
grandparents' nursery, though I still can't tell one plant from another. My
maternal grandfather, Toney Ross, turned a whopping 95 years old this year. My
mom flew him out to Atlanta to catch a Braves game with me on my birthday this
season. What a treat! The past few years have been tough on him, having lost my
grandmother and his twin brother, but he is by far more active than I am! My
paternal grandmother moved closer to us a few years ago, and it is a true treat
to have her nearby.
