Angela Thompson:  

Life Since leaving Washington in 1994 to live in Galax, Virginia with my ex-husband, I have since had 3 more children for a total of 4 and married a wonderful man. My oldest is Tyler, he is 14 and is autistic. Having an autistic child has it's challenges but I love every minute of it. He is fitting in very well in middle school this year. Chase is my second boy, now 12 with 3 girlfriends. He has his father's dark good looks and all his bad attitude! My beautiful daughter Caitlin is now 11 and an aspiring cheerleader, and bellydancer. And the baby is Stephanie, named for my mother who passed away 5 years ago of cancer. She is 4 now and very full of herself. She said the Pledge of Allegiance the other day, I was so proud. I am now a photographer and have recieved my professional certification. I love it! I spend my whole day playing with everyone else's children and making memories that will last a lifetime. When you see a new mother pick up her portraits and start crying because you managed to catch that smile they only give mommy, it makes your day! My wonderful husband Brandon put's up with alot from me. It's hard to believe that you can be happy again after your first marriage ends, but he taught me alot about forgiveness and learning to love again. Wanderings: Home Again As much as I miss home, the saying you can't go home again is true. I've been back home a couple of times since leaving in 93 and it makes me so sad. It has changed so much. When my husband and I went to Oregon in 2006 to visit his family, we took a couple of days and went up to Tacoma. I was devasted at how much it has changed. It took me awhile to get my bearings just driving down the road a couple of times. I miss the mountains. I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains here in Virginia, but they aren't like ours. These are glorified hills. I miss sitting on the beach in Steilacoom. I miss swimming in American Lake. There is so much that I miss, but when I go home, I feel like I don't belong any more. Yankee? I was called a Yankee, not long after I moved here. It p*ssed me off a little. I told the kid who called me that to read up on the term. I also told him, I was from the west coast and not from the north eastern states. We are completely different. To me, being called a Yankee here is akin to being called a moron. I told him that if he still had doubts about the term, that I would be happy to supply him with the proper information. Till them, go back to school and learn a few things. Roofs The first time I said roof (of course I pronounced it ruff), the local southern folks couldn't figure out what I was talking about. They asked me what a roof was. I said "You know, thing on top of a house?" I would recieve this look that said learn proper english. Same for roots. And when I said my house...Expand for more