Amy is a tough cookie...she can take it....

I am sitting here writing about my dad's bypass.....and all of a sudden my life hits me...like a lead balloon....OMG my life...the load I carry on my shoulders....its OK Amy can take it....

Amy can take it....Amy will take care of everything.....

mom takes a bottle of pills...why...because she believes Amy hates her....Amy is a tough cookie she will be fine my dad tells the dr and he puts his arm around me and tells me not to worry she didn't mean it.....

Amy watched her mom sneak a drink from her bottom dresser, she tells her dad, he says not to worry he will take care of it...but don't let it upset you Amy...you are a tough cookie you can take it.


dad has to go out of town on business...Amy can leave school to get his paycheck....take it to the bank to deposit and make it back in time for her next class....

bills need to be taken care of at home....Amy can write out the checks, balance the check book, fill out the insurance forms and dad will sign them all....but it was ok....i would do this while dad cooked my favorite dinner...

mom is sick again....Amy will take care of things....

Carol is having another "everyone hates me" episode....so Amy gets blamed by Carol for all her problems....its ok Amy...you know she doesn't mean it, you are a tough cookie...

Carol wants to learn how to drive....we will just let her use the car that Amy drives....

Amy is sick, not old enough to drive yet....so she walks to the dr and walks home sick in the rain....its ok....dad of course comes home to take mom to the dr and drives right past me in the pouring rain and doesn't see me....oh well, its ok Amy he didn't do it on purpose....

Grocery shopping and cleaning the house...it is Saturday....Amy will get up early and go with dad...because Amy enjoys this....or that is what I let dad believe because it makes him happy....

Carol is getting married, Amy will help her, drive her all over, pick stuff up, and then be told Carol really didn't want her in her wedding, the only reason Amy is in the wedding is because she was told she had to .......


Mom is sick again...she will take care of her in between work and school.....

Mom decides to make deathbed confessions to me...Amy can take these secrets....yeah thats the way mom...put things in my head that you make me question and wonder about for the rest of my life...thanks...I tell my brothers, they laugh, give me a break they were just stories she was telling you....yeah I don't think so...

Dad wants to sell the house and move....Amy is in charge of selling all the extra stuff to get rid of...dad tells her what to sell, yet he doesn't remember these things and gets mad at stuff that is sold and how much it is sold for.....

Dad has a new girl friends, she doesn't want kids around.....time for Amy to move out....how does she know, she finds the news paper on the counter every morning with the ads for apartments for rent circled......

Dad is having financial problems and asks for help from his kids, well here we go....we all talk it is decided there needs to be rules and an agreement, and Amy is going to visit dad, she will present it to him...on her birthday, she is strong it will be fine....well it wasn't a huge dad blow up and the papers ripped up and no help for dad...but thats ok Amy can take it...she is a tough cookie....

Dad is having by-pass surgery, I sit there calling everyone the woman next to me says...all men in your family...i asked how she knew...she says women would have made a phone tree work...one brother doesn't even remember the conversation that I told him I was going to AZ to be there for dad...but he is at the movies with his kids, I am cleaning dad's house, it is ok, everyone else isn't here, they have a right to go to dinner and the movies...OMG I AM MAD AT THEM...well that did pass...but when my brother called back you can tell he was a little scared when he said hello....I guess it was the yelling message in his answering machine that gave it away that Amy was a little stressed...oh well Amy can take it...

Amy can take it...Amy can take it....well I guess I should be thankful...this is what made me the tough cookie I am today...the woman that finally figured out she needed out of a bad marriage and wasn't afraid to go out on her own...HELL I was the one supporting the family to begin with.

Amy learned to be a tough cookie at a very young age, some days I really don't want to be the tough cookie....some days I just want to be the one that everyone takes care of and that doesn't have to worry if she can take it....other days, well other days it is the norm for me....

Amy is a tough cookie....she can take it...she can handle anything....


Remind me never to call ANYONE a tough cookie.....