Today is our wedding anniversary, but Holly and I skipped off to Portland for an early celebration a few days ago.
This lovely bud is from the International Rose Test Garden, which is a fun place to stomp around in the City of Roses, especially if it’s June and everything is in bloom and smelling good.
More pictures of the fun.
Two weeks ago Holly got sick.
We thought it was the flu, but it was much worse. I won’t go into the details here, except to say she ended up in the hospital on antibiotics for a the better part of a week. She is home now, and mostly recovered. I was freaking out.
There are some things I do pretty good. At my best, I like to think I set the spiritual tone and cadence for the family. If there are schisms, I can usually work my magic to put things back together. I do this by acting goofy–having a seat on my daughter, as she lays in a snit on the couch. Or pratfalls into Aaron’s arms. I have no problem making an ass of myself, if I think it’ll do some good. When it comes to work, I’ve had a pretty good run. In the last ten years, I’ve only been unemployed once, maybe twice, and never longer than 6 months. Every month, I balance our checkbook to the penny.
But there are somethings I do terribly. Getting up early, for example. Or making breakfast. For middle school, the kids have to be out of the house at 7:20 A.M. With Holly gone, we were getting by on toast and Popsicles. Of course, this all happened a few weeks away from a major deadline at my work, which didn’t help. There is nothing more humbling than not being able to provide for your kids.
We got a lot of support. Holly coordinated from her hospital bed, using her cell phone. Our friends–the Francours and the Becks–pitched in to haul the kids around to various after school activities or feed them dinner. My mother-in-law jumped on a plane and came rushing to our aid.
Somehow we survived.
I took Holly to the ER in the middle of the night, when we first realized things were going sour. She was in pain and eventually the nurse offered her a shot of dillaudid. Holly always turns down the pain medication, which I have known about her for a long time, but it always catches me off gaurd when it happens. Who turns down morphine? I always feel like I have to explain to the nurse and doctors.
Holly, take your narcotics.
Holly, Kennedy, and a big floppy hat.
I think this photo is from the kid’s elementary school graduation celebration, which didn’t happen until late June because of the teacher’s strike.
You said we could refinance the house and
lower our monthly. I was skeptical. No way
will they lower our rate. Turns out, happens
all the time.
You said we needed new kitchen appliances
and I gasped. How can we afford it? Now
we have the cheerful ring of the timer, the
smell of oven soft bread. One wonders why
we waited so long.
You said we ought to get a dog or maybe
some chickens. I sneezed into my hankie.
Allergies! And now I can’t imagine life
without my poop-rolling little buddy. And
those clucking birds are certainly
entertaining.
You said we ought to have a child.
This was in Yosemite, before we were
married. You said you’d raise the child on
your own, if I would just do my part. I
laughed. That’s when I fell in love with you.
I knew a girl like you’d take me places I’d
never been.
Saying prayers with Kennedy earlier this week, I wanted to point out how grateful we are to have Holly. But I didn’t want to just say we should be grateful for Mom. I wanted to really drive the point home, so I said something like, “Imagine what it would be like if we didn’t have Mom.”
Kennedy thought for a split second and then she started to laugh. “Just you,” she said. “That would be so terrible.” The snickering went on a little too long for my liking. I started feeling a little defensive.
“I could do it,” I told her. If Aaron had been there, he would have had my back (We know you could do it, Dad!), but Kennedy just kept on giggling. We really do rely on Holly.
Not long after I got Kennedy queited down, she asked me if it was scary to be married. I told her about the day Holly and I got married. We had planned a small ceremony in our apartment: Harrell flew in from California and a pastor friend was going to do the service in our living room. Holly and I were out in the kitchen. The pastor suggeted we get started and suddenly my mouth got dry. I needed a glass of water. I told Holly I’d be along in a minute, but she grabbed me by the elbow and hissed, “You’re not going anywhere.” She might have been scared. I know I was nervous. But then you say a few words, kiss, and it’s all over.
“Do you have to kiss?” Kennedy wanted to know
“I think you do have to kiss,” I told her. “It may be a rule.”
Holly has a new post up at her site. It’s a cute story about Aaron. Everyone go look all at once and crash her server!
If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the Smilebox Holly created over at HollyHuckeba.com. It covers all our family trips and big events from 2007.
You’ll find some great pictures I haven’t posted online.
“Let’s get the kids,” I whispered to Holly in the kitchen. “For April Fools.”
Her eyes lit up. “What should we do?”
This was the challenge. Until I started to surf the Web this morning, I hadn’t even remembered it was the first of April. I was totally unprepared. Whatever we did, the kids were not expecting it. Although they are nine and perfectly capable of playing jokes on their parents, it was 10 A.M. and neither had made even a feeble attempt.
“I can fall down, stick out my tongue, and thrash around like I’m dying. Then I can jump up and yell April Fools.”
Holly looked at me like I lost my mind.
“We can promise them ice cream, and when they get good and excited tell them April Fools,” I said.
“That’ll impress them.”
I was joking. Okay, half-joking. It’s not easy coming up with a good April Fools joke at the last minute, but I love the idea of nailing the kids. As far as I’m concerned, this is what good parenting is all about.
Going into the living room, I sipped my coffee and waited for something to come to me. I hadn’t been waiting ten minutes, when Holly came into the room and announced we had to give our brand new dog back to its previous owners. I resisted the urge to giggle even as I felt mildly appalled: Dad flopping about on the floor in an epileptic fit seemed less cruel than the specter of losing Pace, our beloved new dog. We just got him in November and he’s really acclimated to our family. I love him, but the kids adore him. Aaron looked at his feet, his face grimly set. Kennedy had her wounded look on and was ready to burst into tears.
“April Fools,” Holly chirped.
I started to laugh.
Aaron and Kennedy both kept their faces neutral, letting the news sink in. The Great April Fools Challenge 2007 had begun.
“I got you so bad,” Holly said to Aaron. “You too,” she said to Kennedy.
They both denied it, but now there was a new look in their eye: revenge.
Later that afternoon, Holly and I were walking Pace and Aaron phoned. Holly answered and listened for a few seconds before sighing deeply with much disgust. I could only hear her side of the conversation, but it was enough.
“The juice spilled?”
“In the fridge.”
“Did it go all over?”
Pace and I started to silently creep to the other side of the sidewalk. Holly looked about ready to explode. But then she laughed.
“Oh, Aaron. You totally got me,” she said.
They laughed for a bit. The great thing about Aaron is that he is old enough to pull off a awesome April Fools joke like that, but not sophisticated enough to understand that it won’t work again. He immediately asked Holly to pass the phone to me.
“Are you gonna get him?” Holly asked. She looked at me and chuckled. “Maybe you should give it a few more minutes, buddy,” she advised.
When we got home, Aaron pulled the exact same prank on me. I probably should have fell to the floor, stuck out my tongue, and then thrashed around a bit, but instead I just tried my best to look suitably shocked.
Present Tense 