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Hey there everybody! This is my story.....Being the baby of four siblings, I pretty much did what they all did. So when my brother and sisters began to swim, so did I. I was 6 at the time, but I quickly realized that I loved it and I was pretty good, to boot, so I decided to keep at it. I won countless trophies, and such, and broke many state records in my day, so it was exciting. Even at the

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Hey there everybody! This is my story.....Being the baby of four siblings, I pretty much did what they all did. So when my brother and sisters began to swim, so did I. I was 6 at the time, but I quickly realized that I loved it and I was pretty good, to boot, so I decided to keep at it. I won countless trophies, and such, and broke many state records in my day, so it was exciting. Even at the age of 10, however, my dad began to chant, "go for the scholarship!" It's amazing how someone's positive thoughts can actually lead to reality, because that's exactly what I did. I earned a swimming scholarship to Clemson University. I swam all four years and then hung up the suit after graduation. It was a great ride and I will treasure, always, the strength and character I learned by overcoming obstacles and disappointments along the way.

I married shortly after college and began selling Mary Kay Cosmetics and did quite well. I remember still working out and even teaching aerobics during the summer. The marriage, unfortunately ended in divorce and I moved back to my home town. I continued doing my Mary Kay, as I was a Director at the time, and joined a gym to stay in shape. It wasn't much longer that I met a gentleman and we, shall I say, fell in love. (This is one time where hind sight would have really come in handy, but we all know how that goes!) Anyway, we proceeded to get married and I began to have children. My first was Sydney(now 13) and I remember to this day, just moments before I had her I got on the scale at the hospital and I was four pounds shy of 200 lbs. Wow, I still can't believe that! I nursed and dropped much of the weight, but I wasn't near as toned as I would have liked. It wasn't 22 months later that I had my second child, Hunter, now 11. Again, I dropped a good bit of the weight, but unfortunately, when he was 4mths old, (March of 1997), he, Sydney, and I were in a very bad car accident. A 16 year old ran a red light and ran right into the middle of our van. We slammed to the ground on my side of the car and witnesses said that we flipped 3 to 5 times before we finally rested on all 4 wheels. Thankfully, I am happy to say, neither of the children were wounded, and I didn't break anything either, although I did suffer some severe muscle damage, etc. The recovery was nauseating, not to mention having a 4 mth old and a feisty 2 year old to keep up with. It was also at that time, I am ashamed to say, that my husband became rather abusive by way of alcohol, and who knows what else. We all felt like prisoners in our own home and at the age of 38, I had no car, no phone in the house, and not a penny to my name, and I felt as though I was running out of options. But as bad as it was, we somehow found a way to deal with it, mainly because we could have all so easily died in the wreck. But deep down in my heart I knew I had to get us out of there. I truly felt like our lives depended on it.

Then boom! A bombshell hit. I realized I was pregnant. I wouldn't have been so alarmed under normal circumstances, but I knew I didn't need another child with this particular man, but I just couldn't abort it merely due to the fact we were still married, even though it was only on paper. I worried, too, that due to the car wreck we had been in years earlier, I would have major difficulty carrying the child and even more trouble delivering. Luckily, I did have a very healthy baby girl, who we affectionately called Dodie, until which she decided she wanted to be called her official name, Dorothy, when she started the first grade. She is 6 now, nearly 7, and she truly is the light of all of our eyes! We couldn't do without her, so having her, turned out to be one of the biggest blessings in life, in addition to my other two children, of course.

But even with the birth of our precious new baby daughter, things continued to get worse, however, and I was waiting for my chance to get all of us to safety.

Then, one day, I got the chance and I didn't even hesitate. Things happened, as I always believe they do, and friends came to my rescue and we moved from SC to Ga. It wasn't that far, but it was far enough away that he couldn't get to us without some effort. My eternal gratitude goes out to my brother and his family as they offered us a place to stay while I got all of us situated in a new town, a job.

I began my new job, the first in 5 years, in July of 2002, and it was about that same time that I got more serious about getting my body back, as well, as my life. It was a good thing I did, because in a few years, I would end up relying on my physical prowess for my living. Yes, when I felt more pressure to be available for the children and when I realized, no matter how frugal I was, I needed to make more money to care for everyone, especially with no child support coming in. And even though I had met someone new, I was determined to do it on my own this time and be in charge of our future this time. So at the prime age of 41, I became an exotic dancer and worked at night and was able to take care of the children in the day, when they needed me most. It was great, I had more time and I had more money. That job would eventually lead to an invitation on Oprah and other offers involving fitness when Oprah made such a fuss over my abs!!!! So you see, being in shape does have it's perks, not to mention the obvious.......Being in shape and having the energy to tackle life with life!!!!!! Being in shape and getting my body, even after three children, has given me so much confidence! It has improved my self asteem immensely and has helped me recover from inner pain and turmoil! I also enjoy my life doubly now as I remarried this past May. And get this, he is my training partner now, too! We enjoy training with each other and pushing each other to new heights! We push each other to be our best! It's great!

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