Donna Bowling:  

Life (as of 2007) I'm married to the love of my life (Leon) who is a former Marine from Edon, Ohio. Between us we have 7 children - 4 boys and 3 girls; they range in ages of 10 to 26 years old (as of September 2007). Three of the kids are mine from previous marriages - the boys are 17 & 19 and my daughter is 26; my daughter lives in Illinois, my oldest son is in the Navy & stationed in Charleston, South Carolina, and the young son is a senior in high school. Leon has four kids from previous marriages - two girls (10 & 23) and two boys (14 & 21); his oldest daughter and son live in Florida and the younger daughter and son live with us 50% of the time. I have one grandson. He was born June 2, 2007, and is the light of my life. I never knew how great it would be to become a grandma - I love it. I get to spoil him for a couple of weeks and then leave his mom stuck dealing with the after-math. The saying is true = "Grandchildren are the perfect revenge for everything your children put you through". I moved to 29 Palms, California, in August 1986; the past 21 years have gone by really fast. Sometimes I miss living in Illinois, as that is where the majority of my family live and everything is green in the summer. But I do not miss the snow & cold in the winter and the sticky humidity in the summer. Since work and my husband are actually linked, this part is copied from my "workplace" bio, so you'll see this twice if you actually take the time to read my ramblings... The best thing that has happened to me while I've been in the work force on a Marine Corps base, was meeting my husband, Leon. We actually met in December 1988, he was working at the environmental office and I was working at the contracting office. His boss was the husband of one of my co-workers, and they had a Christmas party for both offices at their house. In 1995, I started working in the environmental office. We knew each other in a work setting for 11 years and did not get along very well for the first couple of years we worked together. It wasn't until we had both gone through divorces, discussing our common views of the post-divorce, having kids, dating scene before we started hanging out together and eventually started dating in March 1999. Time went by, we became really good friends, lived together for 3 years (to make sure the kids were going to get along) and married in June 2002. I am looking forward to retiring once all of the kids are grown and on their own! Of course, I have no idea how life will be without my kids, their friends, and the neighboring kids in the house 24/7. I don't think I am going to like that part. Since you all know I've been 'the mama' since I was 16, I don't know life without kids to be run around, watching the clock for curfew, and picking up after more than 2 people. It's a good thing my husband and I are best friends, or we could drive each other crazy. However, I am looking forward to having a lot of 'alone' time so we can do the honeymoon we didn't take, vacations without doing a head count, and buying the things I like to take home to the kids. School High school went so fast. If I knew then what I know now, I would have taken the time to enjoy the carefree days... If I could it all over again, I wouldn't have broken up with the sweetest boyfriend I had (Jeff Smith from Canton), who treated me great. Soon after we broke up I began dating my daughter's father. The only good thing that came of that relationship was my daughter - who I wouldn't give up for anything. The only thing I would change about her would to have been with a different father and waited at least another 5 years. Attending high school as a mother was really tough. I did grow up...Expand for more