On Tuesday Karen and I celebrate 25 great years together. This one is pretty big for us as we got married later in life. I was 36 and had given up the idea of ever meeting someone who could tolerate me but miraculously when I had quit looking.......she showed up!
I'm not sure how fate handles these things, but I knew that for whatever reason, Karen was the woman I'd never met but was waiting for all those years. James Dickey described it best about his lead character in "Deliverance" when he said that, "within her he saw a certain spark; a flame, small but steady. And when he found it he married it." That's what I saw in Karen.......and what my life was missing. I too married it immediately and all the best of my life, our marriage, our family, our friends, was kindled by that flame. Later I realized I had married my best friend. Even more amazingly, Karen thought the same.
So my Best Friend and I are going back home to East Ohio for a few days. We're going to spend a few nights at The Barn Inn and enjoy the Fall colors. We also bought ourselves new matching bands of Silver and Black Hills Gold to mark the years.
And when I said "friends" above, that includes all of you. For the friendship and the fun but also for the wonderful support in every situation we have come through in the damn near 13 years I've been here. Karen always felt stronger reading your messages during all my freaking near-death experiences --LOL-- The 'Cat is like nowhere else and inhabited by folks like no other. You have our sincerest respect and deepest thanks.
We're going to throw some clothes in a bag and take off in the morning. Mike and Tris do quite well by themselves. Tris has his Project Search program at the hospital and Michael has come through the other side of his problems as a really pretty terrific kid.