For Christmas 2020, I gifted my mother an online memoir service.  It would send a new question every week to help tell her life story, which would be printed into a book upon completion.   I wish that she was here to finish it, but I would like to share what she has written so far.   I hope my sister, niece and I can complete it together and share it as we go.

My beautiful mother was a very patient, kind, and loving mother. She never said bad things against people. She was happy, and she took really good care of us as children. She loved God. What I admired most about my mom is her strength.

She handled so many life challenges and she taught me to be strong in the face of adversity. It's a priceless value.

My momma (Joyce) has always been a very amazing woman her sweet and loving disposition has touched many people not just her family or us her children but many people, she is very selfless very giving, and truly a loving person who has always put others first before herself. She’s always worked herself to the extreme and always took time to help others no matter what it took for her, many times sacrificing her own self just to help someone else like I said truly amazing. She’s always been supportive and always has your back even if she might not exactly like the situation but if she loves you she is loyal and compassionate and loving to the bone. She’s always been my best friend my Rock my go-to when I need someone just to listen and she always has. I have so much love for her as her daughter that I can’t imagine ever not being her best friend, She’s truly a very special woman and she’s the anchor of my heart……

My name was picked by my mother Joyce Cordle Gray and my Grandparents Frank and Daisy Cordle. Just a little history, my name was chosen out of the bible. De bor ah, (Hebrew) a feminine given name derived from D'vorah a Hebrew word meaning (Bee) Deborah was a heroine and one of seven prophetesses in the Old Testament Judges 4,5.

I love the story of my name.

This one is a long-standing endearing joke...one that she always knew just how to answer.

Once upon a time, God blessed me with two beautiful baby girls. They were perfect in every way, in fact, I asked God why I got such golden children. I was just blessed. They soon grew up to the most beautiful women. Again, why did God give me such beautiful women, because I am blessed? They are each a part of me with such deep love. I love them both on the left and right of my heart. I would not be who I am today without my babies. To this day I am blessed daily, and they are funny kind, loving and beautiful. A whole bunch of me. I love them both, as they are beautifully unique in their own way, and it makes me whole. Shannon, I love you more, and Noelle I love you more...and that truly makes you blessed. I love you, don't ever forget that, and I was so blessed to be your mom!

I didn't get to be around my biological father but when I did go on a summer visit with him, he was a very giving loving man. He had a wonderful sense of humor. Very laid back, and I would say henpecked. I know his mother was a heavy-handed woman and I don't think my dad got to be the strong man he could have been, but I always had such good memories of summer vacation with him, we would always go to Long Beach at beards hollow in Washington. I would like to give my other dad Bruce his kudos as he was an awesome man who treated you like a person, not just a kid. He showed you respect. He was a retired Air force man and he had a book of jokes that he would pull out and tell the joke. we would laugh and laugh. He didn't have children of his own. So I would have to say my Dad Bruce gave me more such as trust, love, guidance, freedom, to see the world and people in an equal way without the influence of others. I think that is why I turned out so good.

Both my mother and father. My mother and father were both very affectionate parents, I did not live with my father but got to go every summer for two weeks he was a very passive and gentleman. My mother was beautiful and full of life. She made everything fun. Both very patient and I think I have a lot of these traits. Just don't push my last button, my mother was the same way. We could take it and take it until lol I think I was lucky to get the good genes and pass them onto my two babies. I also was born into a Christian family and that helped a lot. All I can say is I think I got the best of both. I think I am a good person with lots of love in my heart thanks to my parents.

I wasn't really able to hide much, as a child we were very active in the church. I would get snitched on if I did anything wrong. For example, I was never allowed to chew bubble gum as if I got a toothache my parents could not afford a dentist. But....the boys in my neighborhood would be in the garage's outback of our homes and they would say they would give me some bubblegum if I would rub butts with them. Yep, I was rubbing butts at the age of eight. The worst part of this story is one boy gave me only half, and the other boy on another occasion didn't give me any and ran and told my mom. I got a switching as you wouldn't believe. The only thing I can say I hide was going to the public swimming pool with my best and only friend Clarice Mastel. We were not allowed to swim in a public pool. But we did on many occasions. She even had an extra swim suite I got to wear like a jezebel lol. Oh, if I would have got caught, I would have gone straight to hell oh me oh my lol. Clarice got to do things because her mother died her dad worked and her brother was 15yrs older than her. So, she was pretty much on her own except her grandparents lived across the street and that is where she would wait for me so we could walk to school together.

My siblings were much younger than me, they were cute little kids. I was the older sister and they were fun. But my little brother was so cute and did some pretty funny things as a child. I remember he had a speech problem for a while trying to say things and I remember having him try to say Ford Falken and he would say Ford Fucken lol. Sounds mean but it was so funny. I would give them horsey rides with my feet and they loved it. My sister was a little princess, she was pretty much to herself and still is. We went to church on Wednesdays, Sundays and I would be in charge of watching them. As we got older the two of them fought but never me to them. I would have whooped their butts lol. These were my half-brother and sister I grew up with as I have an older brother Phil and older sister Diane. I would see them on my summer vacation. All in all, my siblings were great!

My Grandparents on my mother's side, my grandmother her name was Daisy Cordle and she was a saint. I worshiped the ground she walked on. She was a very sweet and kind woman. My grandfather Frank Cordle was a tightwad and never made life easy or fun for my grandmother, she would find a penny on the ground or somewhere, and when I went to visit, I would go down to the corner store and buy two big licorice whips. We both loved licorice. My grandfather had a fruit box factory out back and that is where he spent most of his time. I loved staying with my grandmother, she was always so loving to me. I would sit her in a chair and comb her long hair, she loved it. And I got to take all her special knick-knacks off this special glass shelf and take them to the kitchen and clean them so carefully. I had a wonderful time with her. She loved God so much too. I spent a lot of time there as when I was young my mom was sick and I lived with my grandparents several times, and just across the gravel road is where my dad and stepmom and my older brother and sister lived. So, I had the best of all worlds at times.