The One About Him

I met him on the Internet. At a time when NO ONE met people on the internet. We found ourselves in one of those topic driven chat rooms that were popular back in the day. He was the "police" and I was the one who had a smart mouth and some pretty quick typing skills. Instant messages were exchanged. It was inevitable.

We struck up one of those on-line friendships. Our lives at the time were tumultuous. Mine by choice, his.... not so much. We corresponded for months via e-mail, and then graduated to phone calls. There didn't seem to be anything that we couldn't talk about. We had completely different life experiences and viewpoints, but it seemed as though every conversation involved someone learning something they didn't know before. 

On paper, we were nothing but a losing bet, total opposites. When he showed up in town nine months later, I'm not sure either of us thought that we would be anything more than friends. Two weeks later, he moved in with me, and we've been together ever since. It's been close to twelve years...

I believe that actions speak louder than words. We have weathered storms together, taken adventures, celebrated, grieved and "lived" every moment together. It's been my honor to stand with him and my gift to have him stand with me. For close to twelve years we have made a conscious choice to show up for one another, and that alone is a gift beyond measure.

Happy Valentine's Day Mr. Man...

The One About Inciting a Panic

We are sitting here patiently waiting for the snow to begin. The wind has picked up, the sky is gray, and temperature is dropping. It's on it's way, it will be a rough day or so.

We're ready. There's enough food in the fridge, firewood in the house and gas in the snow blower. The vehicles have enough gas should we need them. We've seen the plow trucks dropping salt ahead of the storm that's coming.

I was raised here. I've spent many winters waiting for the storms. Many winters with sub-freezing temperatures and I'm not alone.

The local news, and even the national news creates an absolute furor with their reporting of the impending storm. People dash around, laying in supplies like they will never see the inside of a grocery store again. Creating a whole different set of problems besides some snow. I hate it.

My conversation with Himself this morning covered the necessary stuff. He'll be in a hotel tonight, close to his job (his is a 24/7 kind of thing). I'll be here, working the snow-blower. There is enough food in the house for a week, firewood for at least that long and at least 3 days worth of water. There's fuel for the generator and enough blankets and comforters for a platoon. The only reasons we'd have to bug-out is roof collapse or water main break (and even the water main thing could wait for several days). All in all, it's not that big of an emergency.

You wouldn't know it to listen to the news though. The local and national talking heads are making it sound like the end of the world is arriving any minute. It's not folks.... it's just a little snow...