Last weekend, we celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary!! Surprisingly, I am not going to wax nostalgic about being married so long...suffice it to say, it seems like a long time and it seems like no time at all...at the same time!! Someone asked me what the secret is to a long marriage and I told them that when I found out, I would tell them!
I know that I am not the easiest person to live with...I don't like to share closets, bathrooms or checkbooks...I think that if you can keep those separate, you run out of things to fight over really quickly.
I am not much of a fighter, and as long as I follow the old standby of "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all"...then we all win.
I think I am funny..really, I am funny...so having a spouse that also thinks I am funny is a bonus. He laughs at my jokes and I laugh when he makes up words or draws little pictures on the grocery list of what he wants me to buy or pictures of our cats on the church bulletin.
I give him a lot of credit for learning quickly that I need a lot of quiet time, to read, to draw, to think, to nap(!) and time with my friends.
He gets an A+ for taking care of things like keeping my car clean and full of gas, so I don't get my hands all stinky. He likes to cook and knows just how I like my steak...really rare, barely done.
He thinks I am smarter than him, but still likes to amaze me with some tricky answers on Jeopardy.
So, what is the secret of staying married...I don't know, but I wish you well and remember, if it isn't going to matter, really matter, in 5 minutes, then just don't worry about it!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
A Tiny Silver Airplane
There is something about standing in a parking lot, waving goodbye to your child, who is on a bus, headed out of town. My stomach is in knots, I bravely stand and wave, smiling all the time.
The first time my daughter went away without me, she was on a trip to a church sports camp at Carson Newman College... I could be there within 6 or 7 hours, no problem. As I waved goodbye to her that day, my pastor stood next to me and told me to just wave and smile. No matter that I wanted to throw myself in front of the bus and beg them to let her off of the bus, I know, a little dramatic, but that is how I felt!! She made it through the week, had a wonderful time, and I survived.
Since then, she has been to Boston, Toronto, North Carolina, Mississippi, Mexico, Germany...all without me, all successful, wonderful trips!!
This morning, she was headed to the airport, on her way to Costa Rica with the Global Explorers group from her school. They will be doing a service project, exploring the rain forest, riding on a zip line through the tree tops(!), visiting a pineapple plantation and lots of hiking. Oh, and they will be joined by 4 hearing impaired students, their interpreters, two guides and two teachers. In preparation for the trip, they have been studying sign language in order to communicate with the students joining them. I think they were looking forward to being somewhere warm, even though it might be rainy!!
So, as I stood there this morning, with my friend Kelly, waving and smiling, I am proud of how hard they worked in preparing for the trip. I am excited for the adventures they will experience.
And most of all, I am looking forward the the tiny silver airplane that will bring her home again.
The first time my daughter went away without me, she was on a trip to a church sports camp at Carson Newman College... I could be there within 6 or 7 hours, no problem. As I waved goodbye to her that day, my pastor stood next to me and told me to just wave and smile. No matter that I wanted to throw myself in front of the bus and beg them to let her off of the bus, I know, a little dramatic, but that is how I felt!! She made it through the week, had a wonderful time, and I survived.
Since then, she has been to Boston, Toronto, North Carolina, Mississippi, Mexico, Germany...all without me, all successful, wonderful trips!!
This morning, she was headed to the airport, on her way to Costa Rica with the Global Explorers group from her school. They will be doing a service project, exploring the rain forest, riding on a zip line through the tree tops(!), visiting a pineapple plantation and lots of hiking. Oh, and they will be joined by 4 hearing impaired students, their interpreters, two guides and two teachers. In preparation for the trip, they have been studying sign language in order to communicate with the students joining them. I think they were looking forward to being somewhere warm, even though it might be rainy!!
So, as I stood there this morning, with my friend Kelly, waving and smiling, I am proud of how hard they worked in preparing for the trip. I am excited for the adventures they will experience.
And most of all, I am looking forward the the tiny silver airplane that will bring her home again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)