Still giving thanks I want to introduce you to my third born son, Matthew. He lives in Chicago and loves the city. He is a very talented young man.

When he was 16 he began to take flight lessons and paid his own way by working at McDonalds. His goal was to have his flying liscense by the time he was 17. I'll never forget the time he took his first solo flight. The instructor told me to bring my camera and that after a few take offs and landings she would get out. I'll never forget the grin on his face when she got out and told him he was to go on his own three more times.

My heart thumped a few times watching this whole scene but he was very capable and I was very proud. The amazing thing about all this is that he still didn't have his drivers liscense at the time. He would have to ask me for a ride to the airport so he could fly.

Matthew began college at Embry Riddle at Daytona Beach taking aerospace engineering and did quite well but decided to switch majors and came back to Columbus, Ohio where he attended and graduated from Denison University. While attending Denison he focused on fine arts. After graduating he went on to get another degree from The Art Institute of Chicago. He loves to write and loves to dance. He is a full time dance instructor for Arthur Murray Dance Studio in downtown Chicago. While on our family cruise this summer (My father treated all of us to a cruise to Cozemel) Matthew was the hit on board because of his dancing abilities.

I thank God for my creative son and pray that these talents could be used for God's glory. I pray that he would have direction as he is looking for another job since the stress of teaching dance is very rough on his body. From my perspective he has great leadership abilities and could make a great teacher/professor as well.