UP Dreams: Yes, I Know That I Am Blessed--Happy Valentine's Day

One of the things Bob and I promised each other when we made the move to the UP is that we would each take time to write. And we do! I have this blog, which gives me an opportunity to share with others just how my life has been blessed. I hope that by reading it, others might recognize the blessings in their lives just a little bit more. I also have a novel that I've been working on for some time. I don't know if it will ever be good enough to publish, but writing it is a great enjoyment for me. Bob likes to write short stories, based on his life or things that interest him.

I know that HE is my inspiration for the novel I am writing. Of course it is a romance. Of course it takes place in my favorite place in the world...the UP!

Sometimes, I provide inspiration for his stories. For instance, I read the other day that if you say that something is a "buttload," it really doesn't mean what you think, but that a buttload is a real unit of measurement. This led him to write a story about all the weird kinds of measurements people have used throughout history. Very funny stuff.

Anyway...I opened my email last night, and found a story Bob had written for me. You know how I am always saying I have the best husband ever, and that I feel sorry for everyone else, because they didn't get the best, because I got him! It's so true. Today I have total proof of it to share. Maybe you won't need as many Kleenexes to get through it like I did, but I think you will be able to see just what I am talking about. Here is the story he wrote for me:

Our Journey Together

It all began with some innocent Internet flirting. A few messages back and forth… Leading to some phone calls—phone calls lasting for hours through the evening and night, leaving very little time for sleep. I think we were sorely sleep deprived- sometimes surviving on only a couple hours of sleep at night. Perhaps that’s what tainted our judgment concerning our continuing dating?

We had to meet shortly after the calls started. You didn’t want to waste your time continuing to talk to a possibly married, three-eyed ogre. So you arranged a meeting at your house in Carroll just to be sure, before continuing on with the relationship. I drove the hour’s drive from Perry to meet you-the first of many, many trips. We both arrived in your driveway almost simultaneously. As you pulled up beside me, what did you see? It was a man with a bag on his head- possibly the three-eyed ogre you so dreaded to meet, hidden from sight. You should have gotten the hint, but you were a glutton for punishment. You wanted to meet again. That was the spark that started the flame. I was intrigued.

We kept writing back and forth. I know that you have many of the letters still. Around Valentine’s Day, you received many valentines through the mail. And you received many bouquets of flowers at work for every holiday and many other non-occasions just because. I loved making you the envy of all the teachers.

So we kept meeting. There were numerous trips back and forth between Carroll and Perry, with drive-bys of Dunbar Slough to check out birds. Every weekend, one of us drove the hour between homes. And the calls kept coming nightly, and even as we were driving to meet. We were car buddies, even if we weren’t in the same car. But it felt like we were together in those calls, like we should be together forever. Thus the calls were made every spare moment- day and night. And the flame continued to get larger and larger. Even weather could not stop us. There was a winter storm with several feet of snow on the highway, placing traffic at a standstill- a real blizzard. But a “little” storm could not stop Jordan and me from driving to Carroll even though it took triple the time to reach you, it was worth it. The burning within me continued to grow.

We decided to take a trip to Georgia to see my daughters. Because we were not yet married, we had to sleep in separate beds- you and Nick, and me and Jordan. I think you got the better deal as Jordan was such a wiggle worm. The trip was very interesting. We visited Paducah (at the juncture of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers), Chattanooga, Atlanta (saw Andrea), and went to southern Georgia to meet Laura and her family. We continued back through St. Louis and along the Mississippi, visiting the Cohokia Mound in Illinois, and Hannibal, MO. It seemed like we fit very well together as a family, even when confined to a car for extended periods, and so the flame continued.

We went to Renaissance Faires together. It was intriguing to me that you loved Ren Faires since so did I (although I had never dressed the part at the Faire). We went to Omaha, Council Bluffs, Shakopee, Kenosha, Des Moines, Sioux City, Amana Colonies, Bonner Springs, and Larkspur. I became your Scottish protector and you became my lady. I enjoyed parading you around as my lady faire. The boys also enjoyed the faires. Jordan was a pirate and then a steam punk who-knows-what. Nick was an archer and a Green man. And so the flame continued.

The flame grew and grew. At the Council Bluffs Ren Faire, we just had to attend Merlin’s magic show. We could not miss that show. I was called up out of the audience to go on stage so that Merlin could read my mind. You did not get it quite yet. But Merlin read “Will you…” This act suddenly and magically transformed into a marriage proposal in front of the audience. And it was a wonderful faire with you that day. Again the flame grew and grew.

We purchased cars together. We test drove and looked at many models. I was leaning towards some models, but you wanted others. You were correct, and we ended up with the best cars for our money.

So we agreed to marry. However to get married, we had to go through a couple of obstacles. We had to get an Annulment from the church for both of our previous marriages or we could not marry in the Catholic Church. The Sioux City diocese refused to grant the annulment. We were crushed. But since I was in the Des Moines diocese we tried to get the annulment there and succeeded. We were so determined to overcome all obstacles. We went through a series of pre-marriage counseling sessions in Perry. That was inconvenient to you, as you had to drive to Perry to attend these sessions, but it was necessary. I even committed to convert to Catholicism and had to go through a series of classes in Carroll. You were so worth it.

And of course we picked the perfect day for the wedding. It was an icy blizzardy day in Iowa. Our friends, Kevin and Amy, had trouble arriving at the ceremony at St. Patrick’s Church in Perry, even sliding off the road near Ames, but they managed to make the soup bar afterwards. (We had decided to have a soup bar after the ceremony instead of a traditional wedding meal.) Because of the weather, we were not sure if ANYONE could make it to the wedding. The priest was arranging for witnesses in the event that we were the only ones at the ceremony. Of course we had spent the night prior in Perry. You stayed in a room at the Hotel Pattee, and we boys (I, Nick, and Jordan) stayed at Mom Pete’s house. The ceremony was beautiful, as was the bride. Nick played music at the ceremony, and Jordan carried the rings. Mom Pete and Dale, Trudy and family made it to the ceremony. It was small, but very memorable. And so we started our life together.

I moved to Carroll with you and our started our new life together. We “fixed” up the attic so that we could have a room of our own. All of us chipped in to install the insulation. Nick was such a help in installing the insulation serving as the job foreman. You then installed tile in the bathroom. You artistically transformed the bathroom, and created the best shower that I had ever used. We had new windows installed in the living room to improve our view outside (and cut the draft). And of course we landscaped around the house to create a bird paradise inside of town. It was so much fun helping you transform what was your house into our house. And the flame grew.

We took several vacations together, besides the Ren Faire trips. We went out west through South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Kansas, and Nebraska, visiting the Black Hills and Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, the Great Salt Lake and Salt Lake City, Promontory Point, the Flying W Ranch, the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, Dodge City, among many other places. This was another great vacation with us and our blended family. And the flame burnt brightly.

On our anniversaries, we had some grand old times. We went to the Renaissance Hotel in Des Moines and stayed in a suite, with the boys in the adjacent suite. We also stayed at the Hotel Ft. Des Moines. We stayed twice at the Adams Street Bed and Breakfast. The first time, the snow in town was deep, so we walked downtown and ate at the Winery, and stumbled back to the bed and breakfast. Talk about a great breakfast there! One year we went to Omaha and explored the Old Market area. The last anniversary we spent in our new house in Paynesville.

We took several mini-vacations together. Most of these mini-vacations centered around watching birds or collecting rocks. I loved collecting fossils and rocks with you as we travelled. And you would take beautiful pictures of birds and landscapes (although you only got the butt of the bear in one photo). I absolutely adore you and your pictures. And I love to look over the old pictures and reminisce.

We took the Circle Tour around Lake Superior, starting and ending in Duluth. Duluth was always one of our favorite sites. We loved Lake Superior and Duluth, visiting the town and the North Shore after attending the Minnesota Renaissance Faire. So our love of Lake Superior grew as our own love grew. On the Circle Tour, besides Minnesota, we visited Wisconsin, Michigan, and Canada. We actually stopped in Ontonagon to get a cooler at the Hardware Store across from our current shop, and Nick and Jordan trudged off to visit the old depot. Talk about coincidence, or was it? We all loved the wilderness and beauty of the Lake Superior area.

We loved Lake Superior so much, so you started to search for a camp in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. You would spend hours looking at properties and you finally found the right one. It was an 80 acre camp south of Kenton. We purchased the camp sight unseen after hours of computer investigation and satellite study. You picked the perfect location for a camp. We were surrounded on 3 sides by the Ottawa National Forest, had our own “private” road to the camp, and yet we were close enough for a quick trip to Kenton and Bruce Crossing for supplies or a quick lunch (and we could get cell phone coverage anywhere on our property.) The property was a perfect mix of woods, fields, marsh, and creeks, allowing us to spend hours enjoying nature. We camped on this site for a couple weeks, I left you alone for a couple weeks, and then I came back to pack up and return to Carroll. Nick really got into being in the woods, even smearing mud on his face. Jordan even broke away from games to trudge through the woods to locate me while I was posting signs. It seemed that we had reached a new stage in our life.

The short time at our camp during one summer was not enough. We wanted more. The following year we bought the adjacent 80 acres to the north and decided to spend the entire summer at the camp. We built an outhouse- the best outhouse in the UP, and camped out for the summer, enjoying our land, nature, Mr. Hummingbird, and ourselves. We learned that there were wolves traveling through our camp, and that they loved to chase deer into our tent. We loved listening to the birds during the day and the frogs at night (sometimes anyway). At least the annoying sparrow from the previous summer did not seem to haunt us at all hours of the night. We would listen for the howls of the coyotes and wolves. During the middle of this vacation, we both simultaneously made a scary decision to remain in Michigan. So you quit your job, and I quit my practice and we moved to the UP with no notice and no preparation. Jordan was not happy, and the money would run out, but in spite of this, the flame continued.

We rented a business location in Ontonagon and you set up a shop and I set up my law practice. Money was tight due to the short preparation for our move, but we still managed to buy a house for cash, set up our businesses, buy some furniture, build a bed, and keep our heads barely above water. We struggled, but every day we loved the UP (and each other) more and more. The long foretold harrowing winter didn’t even stifle our enthusiasm for the UP or for each other. The axes remained hidden in the garage and were not used on each other. Our love continued every day.

I love our drives together. I love to stop suddenly so that you can capture the perfect bird or landscape picture. I love to laugh and talk with you on our drives through the woods. And we drive together almost every day, since we work together, have almost an hour’s drive to work, and drive through God’s Country. I love exploring God’s beauty with you.

I love watching chic flicks with you, even if I will never admit it. I love watching shows that you love to watch, even if it is Pride and Prejudice for the umpteen millionth time. I just love spending time with you, even if it is watching these shows, but I’ll never admit it (oops I guess I just admitted it).

I love building things and providing things for you. Last Christmas, I built a bed for you. I built a pond for you in Carroll. I will be building our camp for you, as well as fixing up our new home and yard. I love taking worries away from you. It may be a guy thing, but I enjoy providing for you.

I love watching you react to the ongoing activities outside our home. I love feeding the birds and deer not only to provide for them, but also for the pleasure that it brings you. I love it when you are happy because you have either seen an interesting bird or taken a great picture of a bird or animal. And I love the praises that you receive across the Internet or in your shop concerning your photos. I feel so proud of you.

So our love continues and continues. Why do I love you?

· I feel that we are soulmates because we mesh together so well. You can read my thoughts (sometimes to my detriment), but you know what I’m thinking, often before I do.

· You help me keep up my spirits, even when they are low.

· You put up with me, even when I become obnoxious.

· You get my humor, even if you are the brunt of it at times.

· You are a great car buddy on trips, even if you dislike Military Hill in the winter.

· I love to get into discussions with you (you are so intelligent and savvy about so many issues), even if we disagree on minor points. Of course, even if I won’t admit it, you are always right. You put up with my rants, and I love to listen to yours.

· I love to rescue you from your dragons, even if you just want to rant and don’t need (or want) rescuing.

· I love the fact that you don’t have to put on makeup to look gorgeous to me. Every day I love your beauty.

· I love that I don’t have to pretend around you. I can be myself and that is, at least sometimes, ok with you. I also love that you don’t have to pretend around me. You can also be yourself.

· I love hearing your voice in the morning, even though you are not a morning person. My day suddenly brightens when you awaken. I also love how you will get up early if I need to leave early.

· I love your experimentation, whether it is with food, crafts, pictures, or other subjects—but especially your cooking!!!! As you are baking cookies now for Valentine’s Day, I am reminded just how much I love your cooking and baking.

· You want to rescue me also from my dragons. You put up with my crazy family, wanting to rescue me when I need it.

· We complement each other well—you have your artsy side, and I have the scientific side. Together we cover the whole spectrum.

· We seem to love many of the same things (sorry our music tastes are different though- I’ll defer music discussions to Nick).

· I love listening to you planning our future together, discussing our cabin, chickens, and vegetables.

· You understand that men and women are different—that we think differently and desire differently. You put up with my “man” issues and don’t complain.

· You need very little “stuff” other than ourselves and nature. But you will have more.

· You put up with me even while we struggle and have very little—only ourselves and kids. But the tide will turn.

We laugh together, struggle together, and will succeed together in our journey through life. I love you so. I know that I don’t tell you often enough. I love you. I look forward to living the rest of our future together. Sorry, you DID get stuck with the married, three-eyed ogre.

Happy Valentine’s Day 2016.

To sum up I quote:

How Do I Love Thee

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1850

Love you always,

Bob

Was a woman ever more blessed in her choice for a life partner? I think not. I mean, what's not to love?