A Shocking Revelation

I have a confession to make.....I married a younger man.  Much younger.  How much younger you ask?  Well, I will tell you.......eleven years.  Yes.  Eleven years.  There,  I said it.  My husband will be 39 on Thursday.  And with his turning 40 next year and my wifely duty to do some sort of observation of his entrance into the next decade, the truth would have to come out....so I decided to do it now and save myself the trouble of having to carry this burden around for another year.

Obviously from reading the previous paragraph, you know that the age difference has been a little bit of a struggle for me.  I remember the day I met this charming, funny, engaging man and asked him how old he was.  I was sure we had no future because no self respecting woman would consider a relationship with a man 11 years her junior.  Unless you were Demi Moore.  And even if you were Demi Moore people would still be talking about you marrying a younger man.

Now, if it was the other way around and Matt was 11 years older than me, I would have no problem telling people how old he was.  Or how old I am.  But this year I turned 50 and my husband still has a whole year to go before he reaches 40.  Now I can hear all of you gasping in disbelief because of this bit of information that I just reveled to you....or can I?   Surprisingly most people find it to be no big deal.  Some people say nothing while most women respond "good for you" when I tell them our age difference.  Would you be shocked if I told you that Matt was seven years old when I graduated from high school?  How about if I say that when my baby boy was born when I was thirty, Matt was a mere nineteen years old.  I guess the fact that I could be his much older sister really isn't having the impact that I was so sure it would.

This summer a good friend of mine called me.  She had met and started dating a great guy.  He treated her well and was kind and considerate.  There was just one problem.  He was nine years younger than she was.  After she told me that, she paused, as if waiting for me to tell her that she needed to end this foolishness immediately.  I reminded her that I was married to a younger man and that if this guy she was dating was indeed all she said he was there was no reason to think twice about moving forward.  Me talking to her as if the age difference between Matt and I had never given me a moments pause.

So say I had let my misgivings about our age difference keep me from getting to know Matt and later marrying him.  What would my life be like and what would I have missed?  Well I would have missed out on the opportunity to have that one relationship of a life time.  The one that everyone dreams of.  You know, the one where your spouse is your very best friend in the whole world and there is not one person that you would rather spend time with.  The kind of relationship where you truly miss the other person and can't wait to see them again.

I would have missed out on being with my true companion.  The person who would rather be with no one else but me.  Who thinks I am funny and the one I laugh with every single day.  Most of the time several times a day.  Someone who knows me better than anyone ever has.  Who can tell exactly what I am thinking by just looking at my face.  Someone who loves me despite my baggage that comes from a previously failed relationship.  Someone who believes in everything I do.  Who thinks I am pretty, even after dragging myself home after a twelve hour shift at the hospital.  Somebody to drink coffee with and an occasional shot of Patron.  A man who watches baseball just because I like it.

Through out all the struggles with my parents and the emotional roller coaster of my baby growing up and moving away, Matt has been there for me.  He has listen to me vent, comforted me when I cried, and never lost his patience with me.  I have tried to be the same for him, but don't do it nearly as well as he does.  My usually unemotional mother told me how lucky I was to have him the other day.  Believe me, I know.  I think about all I would have missed out on if I had let a mere 11 years dictate the course of our relationship.

One day Matt and I were going through one of my yearbooks and he was looking at my senior picture. He said that he "would have so dated me" if we had met when I was in high school.  The age difference isn't that noticeable now, but somehow I think me driving my Ford Pinto with a seven year old in the back,  in a booster seat, would have caused people to talk.  But now it works, and it works very well.  I am so glad that I listened to my heart and not my head on this one.  In the short time we have been together we have been through a lifetime and I don't know what I would have done without him.

So, now that I have this confession off of my chest,  I am going to say here, in front of everyone..... HAPPY 39TH BIRTHDAY MATT BUDROW......I love you with all of my 50 year old heart.

Crazy About Up North

There are many things I love about my husband, Matt.   He is the nicest man I have ever met and somehow I got lucky enough to marry him.  One of the things I love the most is how much fun we have together no matter what we are doing.  We have been on one big adventure these last two years and I would never have come out on the sane side without Matt.  So now that our lives are somewhat settled we take the opportunity to go on smaller adventures whenever we can.  

  Thursday we got in the truck and headed to the Upper Peninsula.   Our destination was AuTrain, not far from Munising.  It was an absolutely beautiful fall day.  Perfect for a road trip.

Matt's childhood friend Vince's parents have a home in Au Train.  Steve and Jan Paulus live on 40 acres nestled in the Hiawatha National Forest.  

We planned on fishing so we brought our boat along.  

The fall colors were brilliant.  We probably couldn't have chosen a better weekend.  Matt was very patient stopping every couple of miles so I could take some photographs.

 After a lovely drive and delicious dinner on the road we made it to Au Train.

We arrived at The Lodge which is a mile off a road that is off of another road.  The house is built into the ground using tires and sand and beautiful logs.  

Steve and Jan bought the property and The Lodge had been started but was no where near completion.  There have been many hours of hard work and a lot of love put into their home.  It took them five years before they were able to move in.   While they were working on it they lived in the Quonset that is on their property also.  It now serves as a rental and is available for three nights or a week.  

http://www.exploringthenorth.com/joelcreek/cabin.html 

It is named for Joel Creek which runs by the cabin and along their property.

 Matt and I went on a lovely hike on Sunday afternoon with Jan and Steve.

 

We walked out to an eagles nest.  We could hear the babies squawking somewhere close by.

One of the parent Eagles sat for a brief moment and let me take a photo before flying off.

The property was beautiful and peaceful.

We went fishing in three different lakes and didn't catch a thing.  We took Jan with us one evening and she suggested we go to Deer Lake.  No fish were biting but the colors were warm as the sun was setting.

We explored the cold and clear Lake Superior on one day.

  

We also found some waterfalls.

Saturday night we went to a sports bar in Christmas called Foggy's.  We ate dinner with Jan and Steve and then went over to the Casino.  We watched the Tiger game in the bar with a guy we met named Gary.  He was born and raised in the area.  Spent time in the military and now lives in South Carolina.  His wife loves the South but Gary still loves the Upper Peninsula.  He comes home every fall to go Partridge Hunting with his brother.

Late Sunday we reluctantly started for home.  I can't remember having such a perfect weekend.  The colors were vibrant, the scenery stunning and the company perfect.  Thank you Jan and Steve for sharing your home with us.

Matt and I loved it so much we made a vow to return every season.  I am looking forward to seeing this  beautiful part of Michigan in the Winter.  If we are really lucky we will get stranded in a big snow storm.  Hopefully Jan and Steve will invite us to pull up a chair in front of the fire and play a game of backgammon.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Happy Birthday, Luke

Dear Luke,

Twenty years ago today you were born.  You came into this world with a fight.  You and your predominate Stermer forehead refused to show yourself for two days after my water broke at Montgomery Wards.  You were finally forced into this world while I was asleep from the remnants of anesthesia.  Your dad went with you and the nurse over to the warming table while she did what they do to new borns.  The nurse told him you were beautiful.  He asked her weren't all babies beautiful and she promptly and honestly told him no.

 I woke up, looked over and saw you lying in the bassinet. Of course I was your mother and thought you were the most beautiful baby in the world.  As you grew up you were energetic, funny, charming, creative and clever.  You were surrounded by friends and family who loved you very much.

And then, in the blink of an eye,  you were graduating from high school. 

Now, twenty years after your reluctant appearance,  you are a man, working on the railroad and living in Kansas City.  For the first time you are spending your birthday away from friends and family while your mother is wondering where the time went.

 You are a remarkable young man and I wish you the happiest of birthdays.  I know this one is hard and you wish you were home.  I wish you were home too.  Many years from now you are going to look back on this particular anniversary of your birth and remember it.   Because it is the birthday that you were on the brink of your wonderful career and exciting life.  I am very proud of you, as are the friends and family that miss you as much as you miss them.   I promise that even though this birthday may be a little rough, the best is yet to come.  I love you with all my heart,  Luke Simmons.  Happy 20th Birthday!

Love,
   Mom

Happiness for Sale

Sometime in August we saw this pontoon boat for sale on the side of Loud Drive.  The sign said $850.00 or best offer.  We called the number on the sign and made arrangements to go over to look at it.

A very nice man named Thomas was selling it.  A 1977 San Pan.  Purple with a big red sun on the door.  We wanted it.  We gave him our best offer of six hundred dollars.   We told him to think about it and we would call him back the next day and see what he and his lovely wife decided.  When Matt called, he said we were nice people and he and they would like us to have their pontoon.  We rented a trailer and took it out to Alcona Pond.  We put it in the water and rode around and fell in love with it.

Since that time we have spent many happy hours in that boat.  I must say that out of all the things I have owned in my life, that boat has to be my favorite.  It isn't fancy and the only piece of furniture on it is the drivers seat and steering wheel.  We call it the Purple Princess.  Since purple was Matt's late Mothers favorite color, we have decided not to paint it.

Today was an absolutely beautiful fall day.  We loaded up the car and headed out to the Pond to do a little fishing.  The Colors are just starting to change.

We went to one of our favorite spots.

And Matt caught a Northern Pike

I think they look like big eels.  I like the Bass a lot better.

He threw him back.

I had my new lens all ready but there was not an Eagle or Heron to be seen.   We ate sandwiches and fished.  We were the only ones out there and it was a beautiful evening.

The sun started to set.  First the sky was a pretty shade of blue.

And then a beautiful shade of pink and purple.

We didn't catch anymore fish. It started to get dark so we brought the boat in.  

 What a beautiful evening. Me and my best friend on the water.  Anyone who says money can't buy happiness is wrong.  Six hundred dollars has bought me some of the best times of my life.