Remember Me???

Ever since I found out I would be returning to a columnist role I went over in my mind how would I pick up where I left off in 2014.

Back then I was almost eight years into my monthly ramblings about being a husband and father of a son and daughter, ages 8 and 6, respectively. 

During these years of writing about being a husband and father of two I shared A LOT, A WHOLE LOT!

I spoke about the ups and downs, the good, the bad, and occasionally the messy aspects of family life.

Along the way I had more than a few people tell me how much they enjoyed reading my columns.

I would hear things like, “What you talk about is so relatable,” or “I so get what you’re talking about.”

When I finally shelved the column and moved on from The Courier and Daily Comet, I left behind a bunch of disappointed people. 

Still to this day I have acquaintances and people I know in the community tell me how much they enjoyed and miss seeing my column.

Well, never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be approached about giving it another go, but here we are and here it is – lol. 

The plan is to write this column twice a month and see if it is something people want to read or not.

Sometimes I will dive into topics of family life, while other times I may give commentary about things going on in the world.

Since I am now in my mid-40s some of my time will be spent bringing up old friends, people I admire or simply things I want to highlight because I feel they are worthy of such treatment.

Kicking off this first column after an 11-year absence will not be easy, as a lot has changed in my life since 2014.

The quick summary is I unfortunately lost both my parents in 2017 and 2019.

In 2015, my wife and I welcomed twin boys into the world and in between all this we experienced career changes for the better.

While I could expand on what I do professionally, I will skip that because honestly you can just google my name and find out all you ever wanted to know about me and much more, I am sure – lol.

My son is a 18-year-old freshman at Nicholls, while my daughter recently turned 17 and is a high school junior.

Since my column should hopefully last for at least a few months, I will press pause on speaking about my older kids and touch on my younger ones, Grant and Gram.

I chose to list Grant first because as he loves to point out to Gram, he is a full minute older! 

Without getting too deep into the details you can imagine the shock of finding out your wife was pregnant with twins when your intent as a couple was to try and have one more child.

I can still vividly remember the doctor showing us an ultrasound and telling us she had found another one (meaning baby) to which I backed away from the monitor and barely found a seat before nearly passing out. 

While my wife’s previous pregnancies were relatively straightforward, this one was not quite the same.

First, it was considered an at-risk pregnancy due to her age, and second, we were told her goal of having them naturally would probably not happen. 

Fast-forward to 32 weeks and out came the boys, who spent their first month of life in a NICU because they were considered preemies. 

Thankfully, today they are happy, healthy little boys who keep us middle-aged parents on our proverbial toes.

There is something different about being an older parent of kids than when you are younger with little ones.

We often look at each other with much more exhausted looks on our faces than we did when we were in our 20s. 

I really do wonder what God was thinking, but as I have told others the Lord never gives us more than we can handle, but boy oh boy did he come close to doing that with our twins. 

To build suspense for my next column, I will hint at the topic I’ll be discussing.

Okay, drum roll please!

I will address something that every parent can relate to which I like to call, LIFE JUGGLING! 

Oh yes, you know what I am talking about, school, practices, homework, and how do or can you maintain your sanity as you traverse it all.

I’ll do my best to describe our entire messy sequence of events and assume many of you will be able to completely relate.

Thad Angelloz is a former award-winning journalist that wrote a family-style column in the local newspaper for many years. Angelloz is a huge Nicholls fan and lifelong resident of Thibodaux where he enjoys the entertaining world of being a husband and father of four.