When my mother and I started writing the original blog
nearly five years ago, we had no idea what it would become. I’m sure we still
don’t, but we have high expectations that it will be discovered by a descendant
of Oprah, long after we are dead and made into a holographic movie—because it’s
the future. Our separate blogs often overlap on subject, but have their own
theme and passion. She writes about travel, life, and on occasion, prison,
recovery, and family. I try to stick with recovery but often life is too
brilliant to let it be unwritten.
My life now is as I’ve always hoped it would be: full of
love and laughter. It’s not perfect. I still make mistakes; I still fail. But I
always keep trying to be better. I persist on this life that I want to keep. I
have everything I need, a lot of what I want, and I’m learning. I received a
scholarship in fatherhood education, although I might hint that it has cost a
lot. I’m still very new at trying to be a role-model for the girls for whom I
have purchased a minivan and a home, and I feel as if I didn’t receive the owner’s
manual to which I could refer when I am alone. But, again, I keep trying. I
keep building relationships with these little people that look up to me for
guidance, patience, and apple juice. We are all learning together, and we have
ups and downs, but overall, we have a good thing going. I am a Girl Scout dad.
My last post reflected on my engagement to the mother of the
two girls we guide through life. We’ve also had our ups and downs, but I stayed
with her because I knew from the moment I saw her that it was her that would
change my life again. If she hadn’t been sitting in that exact chair, in that
precise moment, my life could be different now. But this is where we are, and
this is what we are building together. We don’t just own a house together, we
are evolving a home. I love all of them, and I want to make this last. So…
I’m taking some time away from writing publicly to spend
more time creating this love that I crave now. I’ve taken breaks before, but
never for the right reasons, this time I’m not doing it for myself. I will
continue to write. I plan on spending my writing time developing a unique,
funny, and realistic spin on my wedding vows. I want to create something she
will never forget, and something I can actually adhere to, because I can’t have
and hold her when I’m at work, and definitely when I’m driving. For better, for
worse, in sickness and in health seems so vague. What about herpes? What if I
get a superpower from a leech, and I become a new hero called Man-Leech? I
would have to commit to that probably as crime dictates.
I want to write something sincere and heartfelt, and I need
to take some time with this or I’ll just write stupid jokes like I did in the
previous paragraphs. I don’t want it to be cheesy.
So, off I go. I’ll be back, and I’ll update you on my life
as it evolves, and I’ll probably change the theme and purpose of the blog at
some point before I go live again.
Enjoy the summer if it ever arrives.
So long.
