Story 9

When looking at a passing person in the hallway, or glancing at the girl sitting next to you in class, have you ever thought about what their story is? Or how they got to where they’re at today? That’s how I fell upon Nicole Roddy; Nikki is what she goes by.

I met Nikki in my volleyball class this last semester; she seemed to be like any other student in the class, eager to be there and was having fun. We had gotten paired up to be on a team together, so when there was down time we would chat about what was going on for the day, week, or even weekend. The more that we got paired to be on teams together; the more we got to know about each other’s lives and families. Shocking enough, the stories she would tell me, I couldn’t believe it, it didn’t seem to me that Nikki would’ve had a life like she has.

Like most kids in this generation, her parents divorced after 12 years of marriage. She lived in Isanti until she was about eight and then moved to Cable Wisconsin with her mom and sister. Her mom quickly remarried after she had moved them to Wis. She would come to Minnesota on the weekends to visit her dad. Her dad Kevin later got remarried and then took on a new wife and two children Jeremy and Bridget. With the years to follow living with her mom, there were no rules or guidelines to follow. Nikki had gotten into mischief like any other teenager, but in between parties and having fun, she also found out that she was pregnant at the young age of 15.
Ethan James would be born to Nikki and Jordan on February 14, 2000. At this time Nikki was 16 when Ethan was born. She attended school regularly and even graduated with honors with her high school class in 2002. While Nikki raised Ethan throughout high school, Jordan was 19 and didn’t do much for help. He was in and out of jail and an all around bad influence to Nikki and Ethan. After graduating from high school in Wisconsin, Nikki then came to Minnesota to live with her dad, stepmom and younger step sister.

After arriving back to Isanti, she took a few general classes at Anoka-Ramsey Community College (ARCC) while taking care of Ethan. She also did many other activities that involved hanging out with a few old friends in town and she also helped out family to pass sometime while looking for her next step in life.

On March 7, 2003, while working at a Ducks Unlimited banquet selling tickets, Nikki, 19, met Kyle and it was all downhill from there. Nikki and Kyle dated for awhile, she got to know his family and Kyle got to know Ethan and her family as well. It wasn’t more than a year later did he purpose on Easter Sunday right before church. Nikki was opening up an Easter basket and in the basket was wooden box that held the diamond engagement ring. She was so surprised she was literally speechless.

On May 21, 2005 Nikki got a husband and Ethan got a dad. Not long after being married, Kyle legally adopted Ethan. “It was a blessing to have Kyle as a dad for Ethan; it’s the right stability that we all needed in our lives at that time.” Nikki said. But not too long after Nikki and Kyle had settled down with Ethan did they get a surprise of their very own. Owen Patrick was born on September 15, 2006. He was Kyle’s first biological child and was an all around new experience with a newborn for Kyle.

As their family grew, their house needed to grow too. So they moved from their two bedroom rambler to a beautiful house that they built. But little did they know that when they built the house bigger, that they were building a bigger family as well. Kellen J was born on November 18, 2008. With juggling a bigger house and a bigger family, Nikki went from working part time at Target to being a stay at home mom, to a teacher’s assistant at the Oak Land Alternative Learning Center and is also the summer trap manager and book keeper at the Isanti County Sportsman Club.


Nikki is almost done now with her credits at ARCC and plans on attending St. Cloud State University where she will work towards a Bachelors of Science degree in social work. Although it has been tough to raise a family and go to school, Nikki had to put time apart to better herself. Nikki said “I needed to go to college, it was the only way I could better my family.” With determination and hard work she has achieved a part of her schooling goal and has great expectations for the future.