It’s quite a day!

25-1/2 years ago I wove my feminine wiles with a pot roast, and convinced Terry I was The One. 25 years ago today, we got married in my parents front yard, with day lilies and hostas blooming, and a couple of friends improvising music. It was Fun! Then we piled into my 1970 VW Beetle with a canoe strapped on top, and went to Lake Martin for a few days. No details, it’s none of your business.

It has been a wonderful 25 years, married to him. Not all sunshine all the time, every relationship has it’s moments. Sometimes those moments last for months or years, even. Never once, though, not even briefly, was there ever a consideration of ending it. Even in the hardest, bleakest times, like the 2 years I went bonkers and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. It simply was never an option. We might as well have considered turning into birds and flying away. Wasn’t happening.

And I’m glad it worked out like that. When 2 people in a relationship are so completely committed that ending the relationship isn’t an option, then you work things out. You have to. There is no other choice. That’s what we did. We worked it out, and came out stronger on the other side.

I have enjoyed being married to Terry. We complement each other. He’s diplomatic and insightful. I’m a sledgehammer. He’s thoughtful and courteous. I’m…well…Not.
He’s a Big Picture kind of guy. I’m very organized and detail oriented. Between us, we have all the bases covered and things get done. He’s generous, I’m stingy. He’s spontaneous, I’m…well…Not. He can talk me into having fun, I can talk him into just about anything.

He also possesses this VERY HAPPY idea that women should be treated like queens and have anything they want. Honestly, I like that. I mean, wouldn’t you, if you were in my shoes? Granted, it might take him a little while to get it, but who can just run out an buy a convertible without thinking about it? Oh…well, that’s exactly what he did 6 years ago. But we needed another car anyway.

Anyway, Happy Anniversary, Terry I look forward to AT LEAST 25 more years…my grandparents made it to their 70th anniversary, I’d like to do that, too.

post Part 2

20 years ago I felt a little funny, and decided maybe I should head to the hospital. You see, I was 38 weeks pregnant with our 3rd child. I couldn’t explain HOW I felt funny, just that there was an alarm bell in my head that said I’d better go. 2 hours later, CJ was born, in the hallway of the hospital, with a nurse flapping her hands and yelling “OH LORDY SHE’S HAVIN’ THAT BABY NOW!!” and an anesthesiologist who happened to be walking by caught the baby as he kind of came shooting out.
I didn’t even have time to mess up my hair. I think the entire staff of the hospital came by to see the woman who’s baby shot out in the hallway.
He was a wee 6.5 pound thing, compared to the 8.5 pound brothers that came before him.

CJ 3 days old

Cute as a button, he was, and such an easy little fella, always happy, not caring when his older brother threw a tonka truck on his head. Having 2 older brothers so close to his age (they were 3 and 18 mos when he was born. no we didn’t plan it that way, it just happened), he wanted to run with the big dogs (as we say in the South), so was crawling at 5 months and walking at 9mos. Well, not really “walking”, more like RUNNING FULL SPEED. He stayed small for his age, even now at 20 years old he’s 5’7″, but that never mattered. He’s as scrappy and pugnacious as a Cajun, but remains sweet tempered and easily pacified.

Oh sure, he’s put us through his fair share of excitement, whether it was attempting to bungee jump out of a tree when he was 7, or breaking his arm and deciding one handed backflips were just as easy as 2 handed ones. The teen years were exciting in a different way, but he’s come through them intact, and I can put them behind me.

Now he’s 20, working full time as a welder, making plans for the future. College? Possibly engineering school? Definitely marriage and kids, once he finds the right woman for a wife. He’s living here at home right now. After moving out for a while and realizing it wasn’t All That, he came back with promises to save lots of money for school. Truth is, he missed my cooking.

Happy Birthday CJ!