Sunday, February 13, 2011

My Husband. This is a love story. No, really.



A Valentine's Day Post...


People often ask how I met my husband.
I advertised for him in the Los Angeles Times. (Hey, this was before online dating. Cut me some slack. I’m old.)
I wanted someone who was a Gentle Man, a sweet talker, a mover and shaker, someone who had done a little therapy. (Ok, I really wanted someone who had done a lot of therapy . . . cuz I’d been down the marriage road once before and I didn’t want go through that again.)
And there he was . . .the perfect guy. At least that was how he sounded. But just in case he wasn’t "The One” I set up dates with a bunch of guys. Cuz I do like to hedge my bets.
But he came out of the gate hard and strong. First date? Ivy at the Shore.
No “let’s meet at the park” or “let’s grab a cup of coffee.” This guy instinctively knew to feed me a foody-licious meal right from the get-go.
And then I cancelled all those other dates.
Because he told me he wanted to build an empire with someone.
And I found those the hottest words ever spoken.
In the past 15 years we helped raise his son, bought and sold a few houses, and moved a few times.
We started our accounting firm. And we grew our accounting firm.
Together, we shepherded my father to his sweet death and we took care of my mother with dementia. And when my Mama got really sick and she needed to be lifted and moved at 1:00 a.m., my husband was the one lifting her with gentle love.
We adopted both of our beautiful daughters.
We went through hell when our baby girl needed major skull surgery as a baby.
I had 10 surgeries in 10 years (you know, just to test that “for better or for worse, in sickness and in health” line).
We made a Vigil party for my mom with my closest friends when we were waiting for her time to come. And her time came. And Greg was there.
And we adopted some dogs. And some of them died. So we adopted some more. Cuz we do love our dogs. (We are NOT cat, hamster or bunny people. We do have parrot fish in one of our offices, however.)
Then we moved again. Moved our business, our lives, our daughters’ schools.
And we built a new community, made new friends and found new ways to be part of the community.
And we just kept growing that business.
I started a blog and put our lives “out there.” And he continued to support me and believe in me.
And I got in fights with friends, broke up some old-time relationships, made new friends. And we did it all together.
It’s been 15 years. And I have to say, I thought I had it made when I got a TV in my bathroom.
But really? I had it made 15 years ago, when he saw that ad.

I love you Honey. Happy Valentine’s Day.

5 comments:

  1. Oh Dee Dee, So sweet and heartfelt! I love that you love the people in your life the way that you do and so miss it every day. Not only were you blessed when you met Greg, he too was blessed and everyone who has had the chance to cross your path has been blessed! Miss you! Andrea

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's a beautiful love story! I'm crying and casting the Lifetime, made for TV version of your book in my head right now! So come on, write a book about your love story...it's not like you have anything else to do :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm way behind on blog reading (I always read yours... rarely comment), but this? This is beautiful.
    As someone coming off of a turbulent first marriage, this gives me hope. Even if I don't have a "Greg" out there... I love that they exist!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This IS the best thing I have EVER read you two are AMAZING!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. thanks for sharing. Beautiful story. Gives me hope!!!

    ReplyDelete

Tell me what ya think, babe!