The Punch Line

Do you remember how it was back in the day, no not that far back just back to how different you were when you and your significant other first met?

Cindy and I were a fun loving couple, there were five kids between us so we blended ourselves a family, and it was a magical time, you could almost hear background music it was so good.

Till the one day when the lady met this fellow

And they knew it was much more than a hunch,

That this group would somehow form a family.

That's the way we all became the…

Well that wasn’t exactly the song, but we made it work, the kids actually got tired of our dating arrangement so Melissa (the daughter) suggested “Why don’t you two move in together or get married, because we are really tired of running back and forth between your houses”

“Set a date, set a date,” my Sister continued to tell us, so just to make everyone happy we began planning a wedding, actually it was our idea but we let the rest think it was because of them.

Then came the wedding, all the kids were involved in the ceremony, everything went really well in spite of my oldest son and Cindy’s daughter vowing they could not touch each other while walking down the aisle, Melissa was on crutches because she had tripped and sprained her ankle the day before, this did not help the no touching situation.

Randy walked down the aisle with Cindy, he is her oldest son and proudly took on the responsibility of giving her away, and she was gripping his arm so hard that his hand turned blue.

The preacher told Cindy that if she felt faint she could slightly bend her knees and it would help, while she was being escorted down the aisle I could see a look of fear on her face, I tried to make her smile, not thinking that I was in fact standing in front of the whole church.

I start bending my knees and mouthing “bend your knees, bend your knees” Cindy laughed the rest of the way down the aisle, the grip on Randy’s arm made him more apt to give her away, simply to get released from her grip.

And speaking of grips, she sure had one on the cake when she accidentally shoved it into my face, who started it is still the question, but I say I know the answer.

The Honeymoon was in Santa Fe, NM and we had a great time, this was back in the day when Cindy still listened to every word I said.

During supper at a fancy restaurant, Cindy was listening to me ramble on about all sorts of things, she got a refill on her tea and asked for a packet of sugar, I had one in my hand that had caught my eye because it was different, I had been reading the package while we were talking.

I handed it to her and told her to try this one; she glanced at it and asked, “What is this?” I proceeded to tell her the story about where it had come from and all the history behind it, the date it was introduced and everything else I could remember.

She looked at me and said, "Wow how did you know all of that?" I just read the package I told her, she popped off "I thought you were smart there for a minute", I think that’s the last time she completely listened to any of my stories without waiting for a punch line.

The kids are all grown now and we are actually Grandparents, Cindy and I still sit and talk, we have been together long enough that most days she knows what I am going to say before I ever open my mouth.

I still read and tell her about things I find interesting, my attempts at trying to sound brilliant do not fool her, she says that she hears every word but now knows when a punch line is coming.

What does all of this have to do with Thanksgiving you ask, I am thankful for each and every experience we have shared and I thank God for allowing me such a great wife and family.

Enjoy your day with your Friends and Family; tell them how much you love them, and Thank The Good Lord for your blessings, and to each of you from Cindy and I.

Happy Thanksgiving!