As you might imagine given the weather chatter, our fabulous two week adventure on the water turned into a lovely four days on Martha’s Vineyard and now a staycation as we prepare Angel Fish for what we are hoping is a hyped up storm. There is a flurry of activity at our marina. While in a very good location in Boston Harbor, it is probably not in ideal condition to deal with the best-case scenario of 3-5 foot storm surge and big winds. (The worst case is higher). So, those eating out dollars have gone to more fenders and lines, and there is much wait and see for the next few days.
Still, there will be a celebratory dinner out as today Chris and I celebrate our thirty-ninth wedding anniversary. It was a typical hot muggy August Chapel Hill day when we tied the knot—not all that different from our weather today. We headed to the beach for the following week with no storm then to deter our fun. I have often wondered what my twenty-three year old self expected life to look like in the years to come but honestly, I have never been one to project out far into the future. Other than being fairly certain that children would be part of the picture (thankfully in due course, Justin and Melanie came along) the rest just developed year by year as we moved and changed careers, made friends, keeping some and losing others from time, distance or lack of effort (the last being the ones that hold the most regret.)
Our lives have been shaped by conscious choices and random events. There was a time when we both worked in the public sector and the winds of politics dictated where we might live. Grants came through or didn’t, children were born, new opportunities opened for Chris, and my mid-life encounter with God changed the course of our family’s life as well. With the addition of in-laws and grandkids, my life, and our life as a family, has become deeper and richer than any I might have imagined those thirty-nine years ago.
But it was not always easy; no life ever is. The hurricanes in our lives have bonded us as much, if not more, than the joyful times. There were fires and deaths of parent and loved ones, and the natural order of children growing up, leaving the nest, shifting the balance at home making for big adjustments all around. And there has been cancer. When everyone has been in a state of panic over the coming of Irene I keep thinking well, it’s not cancer, or a heart attack, or diabetes, or any one of a number of scary and life threatening diseases. (Remembering working in Biloxi. MI after Katrina, please know, I am not trying to minimize the destruction, pain, and havoc as people will have their lives turned upside down.)
It is just my perspective; I lost my dad to cancer way too early, and to have a child diagnosed with cancer is far scarier than having our house burn in 1989. Then we lost “things”—yes, almost all our things—but things could be replaced. Even while watching a smoldering home, I knew we were lucky. We had our family; that was what mattered most then and now.
So while Chris and I have had our hurricanes and as we prepare for another, I find myself filled with gratitude for the life we share. (Grateful for Justin and Melanie, Farracy and Ben, Jackson and Cooper and for my mom still lively at 86 as well as those family and friends who enrich our lives daily.) After all, a vacation, is a vacation, is a vacation and there will be more. So, no matter where we are Happy Anniversary, H. I love you and here’s to 39 more…H.B.
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