Hi everyone,
Has it been a month? Unbelievable! This thing called time is
hard to figure out at times. Time doesn’t wait or stop for anyone. Sometimes I
feel like time is standing still and other times, time feels like it’s getting
away from me. Either way I missed you
guys, I hope you missed me too.
Since
the last blog, there was a wonderful day set aside called Valentine’s Day. I hope everyone enjoyed and showed love to
someone, even if only to yourself. You deserved it. Well guys, that day was the
hardest day yet since Emm’s been gone. I mean really, really the hardest day of
my life. Put it this way, if I could
bottle up the pain, the bottle would explode just from the intensity
alone. Valentine’s Day was also our 27th
anniversary, need I say more? But let me tell you how I got through it, I
always have a plan these days, I have made a determination that I am not going
down. My daughter, Heather and I, met in
the city (New York) to see Phantom of the Opera.
When I saw her face, that
beautiful face immediately made me feel better. She hugged me, gave me a card
and a gift. The play, in one word, was
PHENOMENAL! It was simply AMAZING. By
the way, it is their 25th anniversary on Broadway so the tickets are
remarkably cheaper for the time being. Heather and I give it two thumbs up!
Sooooooooooooooooo, dear hearts, tax season has rolled
around again. Some people are happy and some people are either …
A) sad
B) mad
C) physically sick
D) all of
the above.
Most folks know, if it is multiple choice the answer is usual “D” if
that’s an option… (chuckle). This is the time of year, when “money cometh and
money goeth” is spelled the same way, I-R-S.
For many years, Emm and I dealt with the latter. We were in the middle class bracket and owned
nothing, but owed everything. There’s
something very wrong with that equation.
Well I got tired of my Oscar winning performances every year once I saw how
much we had to pay. You know me crying, not eating, woe is me, and we’re not
going to make it, that sort of stuff.
Emm, he never changed, (I’m singing) “easy like Sunday morning” on the
exterior, but he was tired of this as well.
Well folks, we put a PLAN in place to buy a house. We let go of fear, we
got educated, we got disciplined, we worked hard, and we spent much less in
order to carry out the plan. He took
classes related to mortgages in ordered to be an educated buyer and I was in
charge of closing credit cards and keeping us on a strict budget. It took us
two years to get everything in order then we went to the bank and got
prequalified. After that, came the real deal with getting a bank to commit to
being our lender, now that was something else.
Was the process intense and tedious?
Gimme a Y, Gimme an E, Gimme an S, what does it spell? YES, YES, YES!
I
almost thought I was selling my soul. BUT,
WE DID IT TOGETHER!!! We got our house in 1999. I was going to get a house with
an east and west wing, but I couldn’t deal with the haters … (hahaha). And then
you know, family from Left Armpit, Alabama would want to visit and NEVER go
home… (I’m a mess, I know). For real though, we got a small, but quaint abode
that housed a daddy, a mommy, and one to two children comfortably. And because I was a big part of the process I
can carry on today in my house and I haven’t missed a beat. I am proud of myself, yes indeed! Am I passing this knowledge down to our
daughter? NO DOUBT! (that song is on my first cd, “Fulfillment… I’ve Got To Do It” –
SHAMELESS PLUG J)
Husbands commit to teaching and sharing the household
affairs with your wife. If you leave
this world first, you want to make sure your wife can continue on without
missing a beat. Wives learn. Make
yourselves available to learn, it is vital! Again we must be proactive. In some
households, the wife handles the affairs; so wives keep your husbands’ abreast
to the goings on. Bottom line, you BOTH should be aware what is going on.
Next time, I’ll share with you what happened in
2001 that impacted my life even to this very day. It is so important to listen
to that gut feeling, that inner voice. I did and thank God I did. My life would
have been so different now if I didn’t listen 12 years ago. Love ya!!!
