Uncommon Core

1 + 1 = 5. Math doesn't even make sense anymore.

The world has now spun off its axis.  We kill others as a means of peaceful protest. Americans are being told that we should fear the Police, the very people we are supposed to call on when we are afraid. I had to explain to my 8 year old son why a woman might want to dress/look like a man and use the boys restroom at Target, and moreover, why this is even news at all. We apologize for saying "God Bless you" or "Merry Christmas". People blow up buildings, kill children, and bring down airplanes while confessing a faith in their god. The leaders of our day have taught my children that "law" is relative, there is no such thing as justice, and that anything is acceptable as long as it seems right at the time. I have to explain relativity to my 8 year old. I also have to explain why Bruce Jenner has a new name, and boobs.

Right has become wrong. Left is right. And I don't know what's left.

I keep reading that we need more love in the world.

It's my 23rd wedding anniversary today. I had planned to write out our love story in 2 years for our 25th. Since I'm not planning on being anywhere different in 2 years, and I'm awake thinking about how backwards our world has become, I decided that a little love story was just what I needed to read.

I was 14. The two people in my life who anchored me had moved to Oklahoma. They were the youth ministers at my church. Bob had decided to further his education in Tulsa. Wanda, his wife, and I kept in touch with lots of letters, and a few really expensive phone calls. For my 15th birthday, my Grandma and I hatched a plan to get me to Tulsa for a week over my spring break by riding out to Tulsa with a girl from my church that went to Oral Roberts University, who was home for her spring break. She bought me a one way ticket back to Cleveland.

Chris was a freshman at the time and knew Jenny, the girl from my church. He had hitched a ride to Ohio with her and was riding back with her as well. We packed her car and off we went! I sat next to this guy (and probably talked) the whole way there. We arrived in Tulsa, they dropped me off and that was it. I'm pretty sure he didn't even know my name. Fast forward 4 years...

In the meantime, Chris had dropped out of school for a while to go back to Cleveland and get a job as a draftsman. I had gotten into Bowling Green University and was planning on a music degree. I was going back to Tulsa right after high school graduation to spend some time with Bob and Wanda before the fall semester. I also totaled my car on graduation night. I ended up getting dropped off in Tulsa, registering for classes at ORU, getting a job, and buying a new car. That same year, Chris had decided that he needed to think about going back to college and finishing his engineering degree in earnest.

It was "state night" my sophomore year. I went to the "Ohio" table and met a guy named Chris. Turns out he was also on my brother wing in the dormitory. He happened to be from Chardon, not far from Warren. I had a car, was going home for fall break and he needed a ride. I agreed. Prior to fall break, I had run into him numerous times, and he was always very friendly. Our dorm wing had a party at Bob and Wanda's house that he ended up attending, he noticed a picture of me at about age 13 hanging on their wall. Over and over he told me how familiar I looked. It was an awful picture and I was horrified, yet relieved that he could in no way know me, especially then.

We spent about 1000 miles getting to know each other and enjoyed each others company. We were about 2 miles from my house when he said, "I've been here before. I remember this curve. You know, I knew a girl from Warren once; back when I went to ORU the first time. (He had told me over the trip about leaving, working in Cleveland, the decision to return and finish his degree...) Her name was Jenny..."

"I know a girl from my church that went to ORU. Her name was Jenny Smith. Her parents are friends with my Grandma and I rode out to Tulsa to visit Bob and Wanda once with her..."

He slowly answers, "...in a green car, with a beige suitcase stuffed..."

"In between us. For 1000 miles..."

"Uh huh."

Bob & Wanda on our wedding day

By the time we hit my front door, we were both wide eyed and speechless. We introduced our mothers to each other, only to realize we had all met 4 years ago. We went on a date over that break, and have been together ever since.  I told my room mate that he was the one right after we had gotten back from fall break. I really did know, deep in my soul that he was the one. That he was saved just for me.

I also know that love isn't like that for many people. All I ever wanted growing up was a fairy tale, because all I had ever known was chaos. I so deeply hoped a real love would happen for me, and I'm still pinching myself 23 years later. The story of us is so uncommon, and the equation that completed my life happened this day in 1993.  1+1=5

We do need love in the world. So, today, I celebrate ours. Fairy tales do come true sometimes.