Wonderment Two Years Later!!!

We had a very nice dinner last night with my mother-in-law as we returned from my mother’s house. This was very important to my wife and in the past this would have caused me some apprehension but things have changed (hopefully some of those “things” are me??) in the past two years and acceptance is a great way to live. I do my best to accept the things I cannot change which is just about everything outside of my being and this is a much better way to live. I know I would have had a problem with this but now nothing really gives me much consternation. It really just doesn’t matter because what matters is the fact that I am back with my family.

The evening was filled with getting ready for our departure in the morning. My wife and I along with my son went to an “old stomping ground”; well maybe not a really an “old stomping ground” but a place I was very familiar with when I was a teenager. We went to the local grocery store where I worked much of my teenage years. In fact this is where my first “real” job came to pass when I was legally able to have a job at the age of 16. I remember starting the day I turned 16 and worked until I went away to college two years later. I also worked summers while in college and had some not so fond memories of my compulsive gambling exploits while I worked there. Suffice it to say there was a great deal of memories in this store.

I hadn’t been back to this store in a number of years and it had expanded since I last worked there well over 25 years ago. It is interesting because what I thought was a very big store back then seems much smaller now even though it had gone through a major expansion. The store itself seemed a bit in disarray but for what we needed they seemed to have most of the items. The trip to memory lane was short lived as we walked through the store and I sort of expected to see someone from the past but this did not materialize.

The evening came to an end and the focus was set on the morning with our departure. The early morning came and I woke up with much happiness. Our trip was about to commence but first the mini-van needed to be packed. My wife had accumulated a few items (a big understatement!!) in the past two years and everything would not fit. I noticed there was much more then when we came out east two years ago. My wife did make a few return trips to California to pick up additional items and with all the sports equipment accumulated packing the car became a bit complicated. I did my best treating packing the car like a big puzzle but had to leave several items behind. Thankfully my mother has volunteered her services to ship the remaining boxes out in increments over the next few months.

The car was finally packed and we could fit no more; heck even the children had very little room in the back seat. Thank goodness they have short legs because every square inch of the floor was taken. The best seat was the driver’s seat because even the passenger’s seat wasn’t very comfortable. The car was ready and we said our good-byes to my mother-in-law (aka grandma) and there was a very different sense from the day before when we bid my mother adieu.

As I mentioned yesterday what other people think of me is none of my business but there is a strong sense my mother-in-law doesn’t not care for me because for the second time in the past 15 years I am taking away part of her family. As my wife said, I married her not her mother and thankfully my wife has been with me from the very beginning of this ordeal. This is not to say my mother-in-law hasn’t because she has housed my wife and children for the past two years and showered the children with nothing but love.

My wife did tell me something as we drove that was not surprising yet still stung. Once again there is nothing I can do about certain things and this certainly fit into that category. It all goes to what people think about me and I know I am doing the right things and finally on the road to recovery. I do believe that not everyone believes in me which really is okay. I will continue doing the right things and I know good things will continue to happen.

Our first destination was Washington D.C. and we set out a little before 1:00 in the afternoon today. We encountered traffic on our drive but nothing would change my great mood. Here it is two years ago to the very day I was sentenced and now I am driving with my family to a wonderful life. I will not forget that very faithful day two years ago and the circle is now just about complete; however; this is a circle which has a tangent line into a wonderful existence. The wonderful event continued as we drove south towards Washington D.C. It is an amazing life!!!!