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Thomy was a Cunningham all the way. He is the only one that took after his mom's side.
He could hold a conversation with a stranger on the street when he was just a little boy and he has never lost that talent. He was a good student in school. He inherited his father's artistic talents. He creates beautiful rings, necklaces out of precious stones and gold. He can write names in picture form. He is a jack of all trades. He works on cars, gardening, woodwork and repairs almost anything, but his mom says, "don't let him touch your car."
He enlisted in the U.S. Marines when he was 17. They told him he could get his high school diploma through them and they told him he would not have to go overseas to Vietnam. He took his basic training in San Diego and then was shipped to Vietnam. While there he had an unusual experience. He had just received his month's pay and he was out on the beach alone. Some AWOL soldiers saw him, beat him, and took his money away from him. They then carried him up a cliff and rolled him over into a coral reef. He couldn't climb up the bank because it was so steep and slippery, the water was hitting against the cliff. He managed to work himself down the beach where he could get out. He went back to the base and to the hospital to take care of his wounds.
While in the hospital the chaplain came and talked to him about what happened. He told him what he knew happened to him, but to write his mother and she could fill in the rest. The chaplain wondered about this so he wrote to Thomy's mom. Birdie answered the letter telling him of the experience she had that very date. She woke up late that night knowing something was wrong and went into the front room so she would not wake up her husband. Shortly after she got into the front room she could hear Thomy calling for help. She seemed to reach out her hands and he seemed to grasp them and the weight of him and force of water put a weight on her hands and drew her closer to the front window. His youngest son, Bryan, came in, hearing him cry for help, and grabbed Birdie by the waist and pulled back. He said, "We'll save you, Tom." The weight pulling on her hands stopped and a peaceful feeling came over her. She knew everything was alright. The chaplain wrote her another letter, telling her it was quite an experience, that he had never heard of anything like that in his life.
Thomy returned home. He met Nancy Brown and knew she was the one for him. They were married 29 August 1981 in San Leandro. He went to nursing school and worked as a male nurse for Fairmont County Hospital until he hurt his back. He went to computer school after the accident to learn cartoon programming. Nancy works for the county court house in Hayward in the legal aid department.
They wanted a family very bad. They tried insemination, had surgeries, and many other things but she could not get pregnant, so they went out and bought a home in San Lorenzo. A year or so later they took a trip to Reno and evidently she got pregnant there. They had a son, Joshua Thomas Nevada Rose, December 1, 1994, at Kaiser Hospital in Hayward. (The Nevada was put in because they believe that is where she conceived.) The thirteen year wait was over, but well worth it. He is intelligent and a talker just like his father.
Thomy takes care of Josh while Nancy works. When Thomy works, Nancy's mother takes care of him in her Day Care Center. They are very loving and caring parents.