Wedding Day

After much hurried planning and last minute changes due to a lot of procrastination (a family trait) my son Nathan and his fiance Stacy were married Saturday. It means another change in all our daily lives, one of those changes that you know is coming and have mixed feelings about. My boy is becoming more responsible, which is good, but he will need us less now, which is sad to think of because it seems the last few years have zipped by and I never got a chance to do a lot of things I wanted to do with him. But I'm happy for him. He's seemed to have matured a lot in the last couple of years and I think he'll make a great husband and father.

The wedding was someplace I haven't been in thirty years even though it isn't that far away, so I was anxious about going there and wondering if I'd have a panic attack and run out of the church. Surprisingly, I pushed myself in the two weeks before the wedding until I finally made it there, then kept driving back several times to get used to it, so that on the wedding day I made it through without panicking once. A minor victory of sorts, and hopefully the start of me retaking control of my life - or rather more accurately, letting go of trying to control my own life and letting things fall as they may.

My wife cried a little at the ceremony and I almost did then too, but my emotional moment came at the reception when Nathan, my wife and I were alone on the dance floor - the first time all day we'd been alone with him. My wife gave him a hug, then I embraced him and realized it had been years since I'd done so. We held each other tightly for a long time and the tears flowed and the lump in my throat was so big I couldn't talk to tell him that I loved him or that I was so proud of him... but I think he knew.

It was also a great weekend because I got to see my grandson a lot in that time. I played with him during most of the decorating time at the reception hall the day before the wedding and a lot during the reception. It's wonderful because he now knows who my wife and I are, since they've also been bringing him to the house more. I'm "Papa" to him...and I'm perfectly fine with that.

Will post some pictures from the wedding soon but don't worry, I won't put too many of me on here... wouldn't want to scare everyone away.

How Silly Can You Get

They're having a marathon of Zucker, Zucker and Abrahams movies on AMC tonight, and I've seen The Naked Gun and Top Secret and right now Airplane is on. All those hilarious films from the 80's that are still funny but back then had you rolling out of your seat laughing because you never knew what was coming next. I watch them everytime they're on tv even though I have most of them already recorded, so if you will excuse me I've got to get back to the show.

Transformation to Adulthood

My middle son was born twenty-one years ago on this date, so today he's a full-fledged adult - on paper anyway. Nathan's was the only birth I got to witness, making his entrance into this world something I'll always hold as special. All my sons are different, although it's easy to pick out the family traits that say they belong to me. When Nathan was born the first thing I noticed was that he was covered in dark hair. The second thing was that they couldn't get him to breath right away, but eventually he was breathing and crying and it was a wonderful moment for my wife and I. He grew up a handsome lad, his hair staying as black as the day he was born, and growing tall and athletic in stature. He had a knack for making friends easily, quite a different characteristic from his shy older brother, and breezed through school fairly easily getting high grades throughout. He played Little League baseball from T-Ball through the last year of the Senior League and still plays on a league now, so sports-wise he was the most gifted of my sons. Since baseball was always my passion I played catch with him a lot and remember throwing in the backyard year after year. I think he broke a window every year, and I remember one year, when it got warm out and he wanted to throw around, the very first pitch of the year went through the bathroom window. Then there was the year I went out to catch him and his pitches were all bending. I asked him where he learned to throw a curve ball and he said "the internet". Although he's always had an independent streak he's always kept his head where it should be, reaching the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts. The last couple of years we haven't seen a lot of him since he spends most of his time with his fiance and his son. They're getting ready for the wedding in less than two weeks. Soon he won't need mom and dad much at all, which is kind of sad, but it's part of growing up and becoming an adult. Happy Birthday Nathan.

Murphy's Redneck Law

Whenever I start a project I'm assured of an assortment of nicks, scratches, cuts and bruises before I finish. That's just the way it is. If I happen to be working on my car and I just can't get that bolt loosened and my hand is right next to a sharp edge of a motor mount then Murphy's Law says that the wrench is gonna slip and I should stop and rethink my position. Murphy's Redneck Law says that, yeah the wrench is gonna slip, but I aint gonna give up on it until I leave a chunk of my knuckle on that engine block. This happened to me twice yesterday when I was working on my garden tractor. Yeah twice, but I only count it as once since there was no blood the one time. Down in this neck of the woods we just don't have time to stop and examine every situation to see if there's a safer way to do things, so even though we know it's coming we're gonna plow ahead anyway. Well gotta go, my duct tape-wrapped toilet paper bandage came loose again.

HAPPY EASTER

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!