Normal daily bullshit would never again even faze him. He worked day labor jobs. He'd been married twice before, and had 5 daughters (two adopted, three biological, and two of those were only 6 months apart!) He was a San Diego native, and I'd never ever even seen California. He lived across the street from my new apartment-in-a-gay-neighborhood in downtown Minneapolis, and I assumed he was gay. But he wasn't. Isn't. And he was easy on the eyes.
Plus he loved my toddler son, Jon.
So we cohabited until my divorce was final, then we got married and moved to California. My ex, also a California native, was supposed to follow us out there (he's a great dad to our son) but he had a near-fatal motorcycle accident and was delayed a few years.
In the meantime, Ron's three daughters from wife #2 (Judy, a saint) spent some summers with us, became and remain very dear to me, have produced 5 most-remarkable grandchildren, and I love them like they're mine.
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| Lissandra, Juliana, and Caprice |
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| My son Jon, single dad. |
But they're not, and I'm so grateful they have Judy as ballast. Because Ron and I weren't ballast. We were happy drunks.
In time, we decided the drinking might be problematic, so we quit, for 16 years. Those 16 years allowed us to build a bit, amassing a fairly happy, extended-family unit and setting us up for an early retirement (mostly courtesy of the VA, who finally agreed Ron was worthy of compensation for his service).
And here we are, Mexico. We have a delightfully quirky little homestead here, in a perfect climate, and at 58.9 and 64.999 years old, respectively. None of our children has managed to visit us yet, but I think they will, in time, because this life is SO great. Plus it's all there is to inherit...
Our Mexico neighbors and friends are every bit as quirky as we are, some a tad more so. We only see the grandkids once a year, not nearly often enough. But with Skype, we still "see" them. Just can't touch them. I rationalize that they're better off without our influence/interference/meddling, and suspect nothing could be truer. They are all thoroughbreds, and I have zero doubt that each one will be happy, fulfilled, and will go on to found dynasties. Despite us!
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| Max, Linny, and Bryan |
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| Ruby and Eli |
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| Dylan |
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| Nora |
Nora and Dylan may have some genetic challenges to surmount, time will tell... Just kidding. Thoroughbreds. But these are their grandfathers:
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| Grampa Rene' |
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| Grampa Brian |
Ron's turning 65 on Thursday. We'll be married 30 years on Valentine's Day. Nobody I know (including us) thought it would last a year: we're so very different. He still makes me laugh every day, often just outta-nowhere slapstick stuff. One day I answered the phone, and a man asked for Ron. Sounded like a bill collector, who Ron insists he can't talk to on the phone because he gets too angry. I told the man that Ron couldn't speak very well since his stroke (he DID have a stroke, that part was true, but his speech had long recovered) This guy wasn't able to talk to me without having Ron's permission. I handed the phone to Ron, said "Just tell him he can talk to me." He screwed up his face and shouted garbled-ly "EHWHSSH? HEH! MMEH WIIIF!!! EERISH!! Then handed the phone back to me. I was absolutely liquid, quivering, shaking with laughter, tears pooling on my neck. I was eventually able to whisper into the phone "That was permission."
Sounds like life has been very good to you. How blessed. That last story is just hilarious!
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