Adoption of Great-Grandchild Brings Joy

New Parents Say They Lost Weight, Feel More Alive, Better Than Ever

by Woody Jenkins, editor

CENTRAL — “You’re only as old as you feel!” Jamie Achee said Wednesday night.

The 67-year-old who looks at least 20 years younger said she’s feeling mighty young these days.

Her husband Winston, 69, said 10-month-old Trevin Ryder, their great-grandson and soon-to-be adopted child, has made him and Jamie “stronger, healthier, and happier.”

“We’re not in our ‘golden years!’” he laughed. “We have a purpose and a mission.  I have more energy now than I’ve had in years.  I do yard work now I wouldn’t have thought about doing 10 months ago. I’ve been completely revived.”

Jamie said, “I know we’re a little out of the ordinary.  When we’re out with the baby, people usually just smile, but once in awhile they say, ‘Oh, grandparents’ day out!’  That brings on a conversation, and I say, ‘He’s ours and will be legally ours soon!’”

Jamie and Winston Achee have had Trevin since he was 19 days’ old.  “My granddaughter had fallen ill after the baby was born with infections and kidney stones. I was supposed to keep the baby just one day!”

But the granddaughter’s health problems persisted and the day became a week, then a month, and now 10 months.”  Two months ago, their granddaughter asked the Achees to keep the baby.  She told them she was unable to give him what he needs but wanted him to stay in the family.

For the Achees, it’s been a life-changer.  “We love him so much!” Winston said.

The Achees each have three children by a previous marriage but no children between them.

“We prayed that we could have a baby between us,” Winston said.  “And now we do!”

Their days are a little different now.  Not that of a typical person in his late 60’s.

“Every night I pray he sleeps through the night!” Jamie laughed. “And he usually does!  But sometimes he wakes up at 4:30.  If we’re lucky, he goes back to sleep.”

Young Trevin is a bit out of the ordinary in a number of ways.

First, he is mighty big for a 10 month old — 25 pounds and 30 inches, which places him in the 98 percentile.

Then there’s the matter of his talking.  He started calling Jamie “mama” at three months and started calling Winston “papa” at seven months.

He seems quite intelligent and is totally aware of everything going on around him.

Jamie says he almost never cries and never causes trouble.

On Saturdays, Winston has a ritual of taking Trevin to iHop, where he says the waitresses adore him.  “I take him around Wal-Mart, and he loves it!  No trouble at all!”

Once the baby is formally adopted, they plan to change his name to Trevin Ryder Achee.

Since his initials will be TRA, Jamie says they plan to call him Tra.

Somebody told Winston, “What are you thinking!  You’re taking on a 20-year commitment!”

“‘It’s okay,’ I told him, ‘I didn’t have any plans for the next 20 years anyway!’”

The one concession to their age is that the Achees recently hired some help on Monday through Thursdays, and now Jamie can get out of the house a little bit.

So, is having a new baby the solution to old age?

“I think it is!” Winston said.  “The other day we saw a couple our age.  They were creeping along, taking choppy little steps.  I told Jamie, ‘Do you know what they need?  A new baby!’”