BABIES, WEDDINGS AND MARRIAGE

I love this picture, I know it’s been posted before, but it just makes me chuckle every time. …especially the “me neither” baby! It reminds me of when Pam and I talked about how many kids we were going to have when we got married. We were so madly in love then. Oh, it’s not that we’re not madly in love now…. It’s just that it’s a different kind of madly. As I looked at this baby photo, my mind swerved into an oncoming lane of unrelated thought, and my ADHD engine was sent crashing into subjects of matrimony and marriage.

Well, wedding season is in full bloom, and I enter into a time of year that is…well…not my favorite. Don’t get me wrong…I love the people who invite us to weddings, children included. I just don’t want to go to their wedding. I have to get dressed up in clothing I never wear except for funerals and weddings. (There’s gotta be some correlation there.) As I sit and read the program, I talk to myself…”Well now…Pachebel Canon In D….WHAT a surprise…I haven’t heard that played at a wedding …since, oh…maybe since, I don’t know, THE LAST 5,000 WEDDINGS I’VE BEEN TO?!!!!

Pam senses my turbulence and pats me on the leg, turns to me, looks me squarely in my eyes and tells me to smile and pay attention. I really don’t like her telling me what to do at weddings…. so I smile and pay attention. I watch the intended victim…Oh…I mean the groom as he stands at the altar (They should keep that spelling of “alter” with an E…because that’s surely what’s going to happen to them). He’s grinning as he watches his beautiful bride as she walks the aisle…. and I say to myself…”Buddy, you have NO earthly idea!!!! So here’s two tips for dealing with your new wife….Just do what you’re told …and appear interested.”

Even with our biblical guide, which is for those of the Christian faith, the foundation for how we navigate our matrimonial pledge, the difficult goal is to get that scripture …and your lives… all synched up. YOWSA!!!!! Pam and I are still getting synched.

We were in the kitchen yesterday morning, and as she brushed past me, I pulled her back and gave her a kiss. We stood there looking at each other for a moment, and I said, “That’s a little different kiss than those when we first fell in love. As I walked away, I turned around and said, “ I think there is a whole lot more living in that kiss , than the starry-eyed ones when we first met.”

I think I fell in love with her before she did with me, and I think her prenuptial reticence was because she actually had some inkling of what she might be getting herself into in dealing with me…I always had the potential to self explode, much like a malfunctioning Roman candle that could blast off every which way!!!” Thankfully I have survived myself, and I’m so glad she saw the light…however dimly lit.

Well our children came along and life took another turn. We managed the best we could and then had that most grievous and erroneous thought. We’ve all had this pipe dream at one time or another… You know….thinking that when they leave for college, your problems would be pretty much over, and you wouldn’t have to worry as much. Well let me let you in on a little secret…. Your problems and worries are NEVER over when it comes to your children. Your problems and worries are NEVER over when it comes to your grandchildren. YOU’RE JUST GETTING STARTED!!! It’s only over when you get to the twilight of your lives, and your children suddenly realize that YOU are the problem now. 😮

Well, that’s all I have on babies, weddings and marriage for now. I hope you didn’t mind me venting for a little therapeutic relief. Thank you all for your patience and understanding. Cheers!!!