A Treasure Trove of Fun & Adventure

 

Susan and I met in 1980 at the beginning of our sophomore year in college.  We lived in West Hall, a dump of a dorm, located adjacent to what is now the University of North Texas.  

She had the room next door to me, Carol and Jane, and had one heck of a personality conflict with her assigned roommate.  Fortunately, her roommate had her fill of all of us, so she moved out mid-semester, which made room for Robin, another from Everman, to move in with Susan.  From then on it's been one adventure after another with my sister from another mister, and well, another mother!

Below are just a few highlights of the past 33 years, and please don't even begin to think we've wisely used our time rescuing small animals and pondering the mysteries of the universe.  No, we've always had much more important stuff to do!

Dallas, 199? - An irish bar, a martini bar, and one last Irish bar, and the misjudged height of a bar stool.

Austin, 199? - a phone book on the receiving end of Susan's rarely displayed anger.

France, 199? - final night of a 10 day trip with an impromptu group dinner involving a Frenchman, his ex-wife and her new British husband.  Oh, and Susan using her own cork screw to pop open a bottle of wine.  Needless to say the waitress was, how you say, furieuse!

Fort Lauderdale, 2000 - she met Roger and I, along with Nicole and her friend, in Florida to celebrate Nicole's 21st birthday. We all trekked down to Aruba's one evening to celebrate properly.  However, Roger wasn't feeling well so he returned to the hotel leaving us 4 ladies behind which turned into a rather raucous evening to say the least.  Closing time found the four of us, for reasons unknown, waddling home like ducks, only to encounter Roger who came looking for us as it was well past midnight.

New Orleans, 1985 - this trip trumped everything before and after.  Here a some highlights.
Discovering Bryan Lee, a blind blues singer who played at the Old Absinthe House.   Same name as my brother, but very different people indeed!   (http://www.braillebluesdaddy.com/bryan_lee_biography/)

A trip by taxi to an awesome restaurant where 2 things went horribly awry.  One, they didn't accept credit cards and we had no cash.  Two, the neighborhood was so dicey we could not get a cab to pick us up so we had to walk to the French Quarter.  After hooking up with a posse of hookers, as there's always safety in numbers, (right?) we were rescued by a woman in a cab who yelled at us to get into the cab "right now!" and she had us safely transported to the quarter.

Susan "tipping" a cab driver with something other than cash, and we'll leave it at that.

 

All of these adventures aside, and there's many more that will never be shared publicly, she's been there through thick and thin, always willing to lend an ear, share a beer, and just gab the night away.  Many a times the three of us would sit long into the night on the front porch of our home in Richardson waiting for even the slightest of a cool breeze. 

Now, it’s mostly long conversations on the phone when we chat about everything and chat about absolutely nothing, going so far as to take the phone to the bathroom to continue on.  Yeah, we’re that close!

We love you, Susan and I’ll see you in February on Aer Lingus for that 6 hour flight to Dublin!

 

Sometimes, it takes a Street Corner

It's been a while since I've updated our blog, however, I was struck over the weekend while watching a couple argue on a street corner. 

Roger and I were sipping beers in a local pub with a view of a rather busy street corner when we noticed the pair obviously in a disagreement.  She, short in stature compared to her lover, husband, or was it her boyfriend, with her arms folded, looking up at him. He, looking down at her, but without imposing an "I'm bigger than you attitude", emphatically stating his view of the arguement.  Soon there were tears, more emphatic words spoken, arm rubbing,  consolation, then hugs, then a kiss.  All on a street corner.

Just before this, we witnessed a couple in a tiff over parellel-parking. The lady was driving and the man insisted he needed to be the one to park the car.  As he was "expertly" backing into spot, (which was quite large I must say) his lady was standing on the sidewalk, again with arms crossed, emphatically stating, "I can do that!".  With the car safely parked, the couple darted across the street in front of us, spoke a few words, snatched a quick kiss, then hurried around the corner.

I told Roger that that is one of the hardest parts of marriage, settling conflict on the spot, sometimes with all the world to see. 

With friends, and sometimes family, you can brush off any perceived or real misdeeds and let the dust settle gradually over time.  That's the easiest way.  However, in marriage, you can't afford to let disagreements linger as they tend to unexpectedly blow up on you.  As much as you want to ignore and move on, as it sure beats trying to find a tissue in public or fix your make-up with whatever you find lingering in the bottom of your purse, (face it, the guy never cries) but at the end of it all, and at the end of the day, you sleep much more soundly and snuggle so much more closely when all has been resolved. 

Sometimes marriage is resolved on a street corner with passersby moving along and the world watching from a distance.