Who?

Just to beat Jaye and Tony to the punch ;-) here's a cast list of the characters in my life. To keep it short (HA!) I have tried (it wasn't easy as you'll soon see) to not write any liner notes about these people. You'll get that in subsequent posts.

Not necessarily in order of appearance-
Family:
Mother~Eloisa Yvonne Chavez "Lela" Nelson
Father~Robert Bruce "Bob" Nelson
Only Brother~David Scott Nelson [My nicknames for him: Davisasso, Dav]
Younger Sister ~Jennifer Leann Nelson Burgher [My nicknames for her: Jennie, Jen, Juan, J]
Youngest Sister~Carin Adele Nelson [My nicknames for her: Pillow, Care-tare]
Brother's Spouse~Rae Ann Tourville Nelson (Rae married David on April 19, 1994)
Sister's Spouse~Todd Warren Burgher (Todd married Jennie on December 30, 1993)
Sister's Spouse~Karie Lynn Morgan Kubena Nelson (*Carin & Karie did have a committment ceremony on July 26, 1997 that was presided over by a judge even though gay marriage was not legal in California.)

Grandmother~Meryl Thoman Nelson AKA Grandma
(My nana was Esther Ortiz Chavez and my grandpa was Robert Britain Nelson. They both died in the same year. In 1988 I went from having three grandparents I knew all of my life to having only one. My maternal grandfather died when my mother was 18. I just heard stories about him. His name was Michael John Chavez. He was originally named Bruno but when his brother died he took his brother's name in memory. My mom didn't even know that until recently.)

Aunts~
Christina "Chris" Nelson
Juana "Jenny" Chavez Medina
Elly Tatton-Nelson
Uncles~
Donald Scott Nelson
Sal Medina
Modesto "Modie" Chavez
Michael John "Mikie" Chavez
(Two aunts are now deceased. Karen Briggs and Nora Chavez. They were both the youngest sisters and they were both born in the same year. However, unlike my nana and grandpa, they died in different years. I had an Aunt Judy-married to Uncle Modie who died a few years ago, also. I have had some other aunts and one uncle that divorced my relatives. I was only close to one and that was my Uncle Joe Weldon. He was married to my Aunt Chris but she went back to her maiden name after the divorce.)

Nephews & Nieces (The loves of my life! In order of appearance.)
*Robert "Robbie" Warren Burgher born on July 21, 1994 (Jennie & Todd)
*Carina Deann Burgher born on June 20, 1996 (Jennie & Todd)
*Dalin Keith Nelson born on July 2, 1999 (Carin & Karie...Carin gave birth)
*Nicholas "Nick" Britain Nelson born on December 25, 1999 (David & Rae)
*Adia Leann Nelson born on April 10, 2001 (Carin & Karie...Karie gave birth)
*Jessie Marcia Nelson born on April 10, 2001 (Carin & Karie...Karie gave birth)
*Haley Jade Nelson born on April 10, 2001 (Carin & Karie...Karie gave birth)
*Sabrina Elaine Nelson born on June 8, 2001 (David & Rae...Rae Ann was glad to not give birth to triplets like Karie two months earlier.)
*Lelan Scott Burgher born on November 13, 2003 (Jennie & Todd)
*Benjamin Raymond Nelson born on December 22, 2003 (David & Rae Ann)


I have oodles of cousins!!!...but don't generally get to see them. Some I've only met once or twice. So they obviously didn't make this list. These are the ones I'm closest to. Their families are in brackets.
Favorite Cousins~
Esther Medina {Divorced with no children but a fabulous aunt...something we have in common.}
Jonathon Weldon {Spouse- Jana and son-Jackson}
Ellena Weldon {Spouse- Tanya, daughter-Maya and stepson-Eric}
Liz Briggs {Husband died of prostate cancer at a very young age, two lovely daughters; Lynsy and Kellee}
Ted Nelson {Spouse-Yvonne and son-Sammy}

Best Friends (Somewhat in order of appearance to my life. I'm not sure. I might have mixed a couple of them up. The ones with plusses are from work. The others are in the Oglethorpe group that you may have read about on other blogs.)
Jeanine Marie Michael Rosensteel
Shawn Jamal Carrington
Jason Lee "Jaye" Vocque (His personal blog is http://sleeplesswalrus.blogspot.com and his show blog is http://jayeshow.blogspot.com)
Shanda Michelle Davis (Her blog is http://cheaperthanprozac.blogspot.com)
Frith Stevenson+
Elizabeth "Liz" Kate Faye Smith
Thomas Joseph "Joe" Smith (His blog is http://www.golfandmore.blogspot.com)
Jason Krause
Tony Yaghi, Jr. (His blog is http://sharkisloose.blogspot.com)
Christyn Simpkins+

By the way, I have no idea why Joe's blog address includes the www but no one else's does. They are all worth reading though.

I have other friends & acquaintances that I see less frequently. Here's a partial listing. {They came easily to mind as people who have touched my life, generally in a positive way. They are not in any particular order.}
The entire Chase family: Bea & Rob and their daughters, Cathy and Anna & Cathy's daughter, Virginia.
Joe Rosensteel
Ann Samuelson
Carisa Hosey
Shaun O. Baker
Cyndie & Louie Menard
Gina & David Hesseltine
Chris & Jen Ragan
Donna Nelson (No relation)
Kristen Mager
Lori Titus
Veg Bangayan
Jason "Monkey" Feilzer
Lori & Jesse Baird and their funny, adorable son; Foster. Can't wait to see the new one.
Stephanie & Mike Pate
Carolyn & James Snyder
Susan & Larry Borges
Michael Cobbs, III
Jason Stewart
Robert Stoughton, Jr.
Christopher Scott Todd Flaxman Shore
Cynthia Graves
Catherine Frye
James Keys
Jim & Nora Keating
Damien Michael
Carmen & Dan Musch
Lee Silveira
Mike Kiley
Nell Amo
Steve Green
Steve Goldman
Judy & Marv Williamson
Donovan Cummings
Jeff & Sarah Wentworth
Barbara Crocker
Larry Dominguez
John White (@ Delta)
John White (@ work)
Aurora Cruz

Since it's summer and I'm a traditional track teacher there are no students to add to the list. Normally they'd be near the top because they are my main focus. Every year, EACH child that I am lucky enough to teach touches my heart in some way. There is nothing more gratifying in my job than to watch them excel or to hear from them later (many visit &/or write) on how they are doing.

There are other people in my life... obviously. However, these are the most important. They have shaped who I am with every encounter. I feel blessed just to know them, let alone to call them friend or family.