Character Sketch

You just never know when you might see yourself in lights!
As an early Mother's Day present, my son Sam is allowing me to post this essay that he wrote a few years back in 6th grade English. Thanks Sam!

My Mother and How She Affects Me
My mother, Kitti Beth Carriker, was born in Coffeyville, Kansas, on May 24, 1957. She went to college at Northeast Missouri State University and then got her Ph.D. in English from the University of Notre Dame, 1984 - 1990. While at Notre Dame, my mom met my dad, William Gerard McCartney, in 1987, and then they moved to West Lafayette, Indiana, and got married in 1989. My mother worked at the Purdue English Department and at the Episcopal Campus Ministry, and in 1990 had her first child, my brother Ben.

In 1993, my mother had her second child, me, Samuel Jerome McCartney. Right before I was born, my mom, dad, and brother moved to Philadelphia. When my mother had her second child, she retired from working, and became a house mom. Many years went by in Philadelphia, and last year we moved to West Lafayette, where we currently live, and I think she likes it better here than in the highly populated and busy city.

My mother, although she isn't employed, is the keystone of our family. She keeps the whole house clean; this is because she is very neat and she probably passed the neat gene on to me. She is also a great cook, so she makes heart healthy food all the time, which is one of the reasons I am a good cook and very healthy and strong. My mother is very educated, very forgiving (but strict sometimes) and very charitable. What I admire her most for is never falling for any lousy scams on the internet or at the store. My mom's best virtue is perseverance. My mother is a very persevering woman and I am a very persevering boy. I thank my mom for everything she has done to help me become me.

Sam McCartney, age 11
March 9, 2005

This earlier present from Sam to me
is one of my all - time favorites:
posted previously with other examples of
"Ocean City Artwork"