Monday's info.
My name is Maile Leilani Burrows DeLand. I was born Oct. 2, 1979 at 4:23am. My parents were living in Hawaii at the time (my dad was in the Army) and two weeks before I was born, my mom decided to come back to Florida to have me. She did give me a hawaiian name though!
After living in Hawaii for about 1 1/2 years, my mom and dad divorced and she moved back to Florida. I have lived here ever since.
She met my dad in 1982 and they were married later that year. She got pregnant and had my brother Jamie in August of 1983. Two years later, she got pregnant again and this time it was TWINS! She had my twin brothers in March of 1985. The youngest twin was born with Biliary Atresia. He was in and out of the hospital much of his childhood. He had to wear a bile bag which made it hard for anyone to have a normal life. The doctors initally told us if he didn't receive a liver transplant by the time he was 4, he wouldn't live much longer after that. (If he made it to that age at all!)
In 1993, we received the phone call we had been waiting for since he was a baby. They had a liver for him! So, we went to Shands hospital in Gainesville and he was immediately prepped for surgery and received a liver transplant. After spending nearly 3 months in the hospital, he finally was able to come home. Our lives were finally semi-normal. (Minus the 15 different types of meds he had to take twice a day!) Today, he is a happy, healthy young man who is engaged to get married next October.
In late 1993, my biologial father (who I didn't really know) was killed while serving on active duty in Korea. Although I didn't know him very well, it was still hard. He never missed a holiday when it came to sending me a card.
In 1994 I became very ill and was hospitalized. After much testing, they determined I had appendicitis and my appendix had ruptured so bad that it was infecting all of my internal organs too. They immediately did surgery and I was in the hospital for almost three weeks. (I was in grave condition!) They told my dad (step-dad really but he was my dad because he raised me and my sister) if he would have waited until the next morning to bring me in, I wouldn't have made it through the night. It was a very scary experience and I am so glad I made it through.
Later that year, I started high school. High school was a great experience. I was on the majorette corp all 4 years and was the captain three of those years. I was also a cheerleader my freshman year, but it was too much to do that and twirling so of course I chose my passion. I also ran cross country. I played volleyball and softball for my church. I was in FCA, Interact, Triad, and was president of my youth group! I made pretty good grades and actually graduated in the top 20 of my class with a 3.8gpa. I had many great friends that I still keep in touch with.
Sadly, at the end of my senior year, I lost my parents. They were killed in a murder-suicide. My whole world came to a screeching halt. I didn't know why this happened and didn't know how I'd make it through. I began blaming God for this and couldn't understand why a God who loved me so much would allow this to happen to me. I lived with my grandparents until I graduated high school and then I moved out and got my own apartment.
I lived on my own until my ex-fiance moved in with me. We lived with my other room-mate for about a year before I kicked her out. She was a major slob! She was lazy and never cleaned up after herself! Him and I were engaged for almost 4 years and had been together for almost 6. We were best friends before we got together and we just realized we were better off friends. So, we broke up but have remained very good friends.
Not long after him and I got together we were talking one day and I told him about how I blamed God. Well, he asked me a question that I will never forget and it completely changed my outlook. He said, "Maile...You blame God...But how do you think you got through this? Most of your family turned against you, friends shyed away from you. You were all alone....Who else do you think got you through this?" He then referenced the poem "Footprints." It all became clear to me....All that time I thought I was alone and only saw one set of footprints, I was really being carried. After that, I had a newfound faith!
It has been tough not having a parent to share in all my milestones, but I know they are watching over us. The hardest thing now is answering questions from my daughter Alexis. She talks about my mom like she's known her forever. She'll say, "My grandma bought me this blanket..." or "My grandma is going to buy me a pretty dress." I had to explain that my mom and dad are with Jesus and protect us. She actually gets upset sometimes that her grandma isn't here. It is really hard.
I am so thankful for the childhood my mom and dad gave me. We grew up middle class and my dad worked three (sometimes 4) jobs to so my mom could stay home. He never ONCE complained about it. He was a police officer and when he wasn't on duty he worked for my aunt and uncles towing company. When he wasn't there, he had a small mowing business, and when he wasn't doing that, he would work special details through the police department. (Parades, security, etc.)
If I knew how, I'd put some pictures on here, but I am not sure how to do it.
That's horrible for a kid to go through! 
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