What A Freaking Mess
Happy Anniversary to my beautiful wife.
Lord knows it's been a truly eventful ride and Thank God that the one really big choice I had to make was a right one.
Yet there is a certain element of sadness as you look back and think about that wedding day. I'm only sad, of course, because there are some real important people missing and because I could really drink beer and move properly back then.
It's weird that some of those essential things are gone and when you look back on it in a blink of the mind's eye...you feel some pain.
But there is so much more to it.
We were married in a baseball field...left field to be exact at Marion Fricano Town Park in North Collins. We all put Yankee hats on after the ceremony that was officiated by lifelong friend Ward Weiser.
(Except Renaldo who put an Indians cap on at the last minute...dopey bastard).
And after an unbelievable party we set off on the journey.
It was just me, Kathy and young Matt...I was learning to adapt...
...for two freaking weeks.
Then Jake came along...way early.
So I went from being single with a dog to married with two kids and a dog.
What a ride it's been.
And there are moments when I wonder when I knew that we would be just fine for the long haul. An old buddy of mine once inquired about the strength of the marriage when it was three kids, two dogs and Kathy.
"We get along great," I said.
"That's good," he answered. "It's toughest when the kids are young...even worse when the sadness strikes. You'll see how strong that it all is when you have to step through a crisis together."
And that's when I realized that the choice I'd made...we made...was an incredible one.
Jake was sick.
We did what we had to do, never doubting that we could handle it as a team.
As I think back on that, and then put it into perspective with the other absolutely devastating tragedies over the time of our marriage...
...I understand.
That the usual, mundane, day-to-day garbage of every day life...
...can't ever really tear us apart.
"Think about adding 17 more years onto this," I said.
"Can you imagine the shape we'll be in?" Kathy answered.
"We'll be a freaking mess," I answered.
We're limping around a lot more, to be sure.
But in actuality, we're a helluva' lot stronger than we were when we were standing out there in left field.
Lord knows it's been a truly eventful ride and Thank God that the one really big choice I had to make was a right one.
Yet there is a certain element of sadness as you look back and think about that wedding day. I'm only sad, of course, because there are some real important people missing and because I could really drink beer and move properly back then.
It's weird that some of those essential things are gone and when you look back on it in a blink of the mind's eye...you feel some pain.
But there is so much more to it.
We were married in a baseball field...left field to be exact at Marion Fricano Town Park in North Collins. We all put Yankee hats on after the ceremony that was officiated by lifelong friend Ward Weiser.
(Except Renaldo who put an Indians cap on at the last minute...dopey bastard).
And after an unbelievable party we set off on the journey.
It was just me, Kathy and young Matt...I was learning to adapt...
...for two freaking weeks.
Then Jake came along...way early.
So I went from being single with a dog to married with two kids and a dog.
What a ride it's been.
And there are moments when I wonder when I knew that we would be just fine for the long haul. An old buddy of mine once inquired about the strength of the marriage when it was three kids, two dogs and Kathy.
"We get along great," I said.
"That's good," he answered. "It's toughest when the kids are young...even worse when the sadness strikes. You'll see how strong that it all is when you have to step through a crisis together."
And that's when I realized that the choice I'd made...we made...was an incredible one.
Jake was sick.
We did what we had to do, never doubting that we could handle it as a team.
As I think back on that, and then put it into perspective with the other absolutely devastating tragedies over the time of our marriage...
...I understand.
That the usual, mundane, day-to-day garbage of every day life...
...can't ever really tear us apart.
"Think about adding 17 more years onto this," I said.
"Can you imagine the shape we'll be in?" Kathy answered.
"We'll be a freaking mess," I answered.
We're limping around a lot more, to be sure.
But in actuality, we're a helluva' lot stronger than we were when we were standing out there in left field.
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