"Imagine All The Trouble I Would've Gotten Into..."

Last Friday morning I called hubs for the usual "On My Way To Drop Off Taylor At School" call when he said, "Hey, what do you think about Dinner and a Movie tonight?"

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A "his idea..." He asked me out on a date night! WOO HOO!

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I spent some time finding and buying tickets to the movie by phone that morning before running errands and hustling home to get a shower and pick out an outfit for the evening.

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(((YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT MY FRIDAYS LOOK LIKE! RUN. RUN. RUN. All. Day. Long.)))
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Which I did. I picked him up from work needing to "Up the Do" and put on my make-up... but I was officially dressed for our night out. He picked the restaurant and I picked the movie. We were going to see "Taken" with Liam Neeson (which BTW deserves a blog post all its own). We were out of the house in record time for Friday night.

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A slight detour by the movie theater as we walked to the restaurant (RAZZOOs. Aiy-eeeh!) And I discovered that the phone system haphazardly sold me a ticket to see a movie three days before while I was ordering the tickets for "Taken."
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So we returned the tickets and asked them why they charged us for three tickets. We got a refund on all three tickets and the fee for phone ordering --- AND we got the tickets to our movie. The manager told us worst case the system would re-charge us for the two tickets we purchased, and best case is we get to see the movie for free! BONUS. I told him if they were taking reviews for the phone system - "THUMBS DOWN!"

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Dinner was really great! I had Louisiana Bread Pudding which is one of my favorite Desserts. And, we went to Barnes and Noble* and he bought me a book called "Jewish Literacy." I am sitting in a huge overstuffed chair near the religious section holding a book with about 1,000 Sudoku puzzles and this book on Jewish literacy by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin when my husband walks up.

I said, "I really want this book."

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I held up both of the books. "But, I can't really decide which I want more."

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He smiled. "It's up to you."

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I weighed the two books. "Jewish Literacy it is."

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We both walked down the stairs and he picked up the new book by Stephen R. Lawhead he had been eyeing ("TUCK") and we were off to cash out. With our purchases in tow we trotted around the corner to the movie theater and saw our (a little extreme in the violence department) movie, but such a great story. I give the movie a good review with a violence warning on it. There is a theme of prostitution, drugs and human trafficking in this movie - But, parents with older teenage girls need to take their daughters to see this movie because it is very sobering to consider the risk our kids are at and the way they are seen as targets. (end of movie review)

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On the way home we drove through our prodigal stomping grounds. The Fort Worth Stockyards.

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I spotted a marquee advertising, "Bikini Contest Monday Nights."

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I asked my husband, "How is that different than strippers?"

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He said, "It's not."

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We talked about his days of "sowing wild oats," when - shocking, I know - he frequented strip clubs where his classmates from school worked. (Fortunately, I knew this already. AND, BTW his past just might pale in comparison with mine.) Anyway... I asked him when he stopped visiting those places and we talked about his first marriage. When he said, "I guess it was 1989 because I turned 21 that year."

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We were eerily close to the cemetery where Justin's earthly body rests and I suddenly realized my son and my husband are exactly 20 years different in age. Scott born in 1968 and Justin in 1988. I then began to think of all the things a 21 year old might be doing. What I would hope Justin would be doing and the tears began to fall. We stopped in at Sonic* for a soft drink when my hubs noticed my tears.

"Did I say something wrong?"

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I shook my head.

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"Just thinking about Jay."

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He gently took my hand and said, "I know his birthday is Wednesday."

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"Well, it is his birthday because he'd be 21. He's buried over there and when you said you were 21 in 1989 well, i just realized you were born exactly 20 years apart."

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For those who don't know the story: Justin was born illegitimate when I was 17 years old. His dad abandoned us shortly after I learned I was pregnant and well my dad came a hair's width away from prosecuting the father for statutory rape...

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My husband's next statement was thoughtful, surprising and a little funny to me.

"Imagine all the trouble I would've gotten into if I'd have known you then."

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I realized that was the first moment he talked about our past in a "what if" fashion... and that was sorta' good.

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"Well... at the very least you would have been Justin's dad and that would not have been any trouble at all."

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We both laughed and realized once again how lucky we are to have found each other.

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I admitted: "But... there is a chance that you wouldn't have liked me very much back then."

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"True." (Come to think of it... I don't know how I feel about that! Just kidding... I might not have liked him either.)

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"I guess things worked out the way they were supposed to... But, I still think if my parents would not have moved to Granbury - we'd have met much sooner." [BIG SMILE.]

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It was a really good night.

NOTE: I have a more recent (as in the last month) picture I wanted to share but it is locked up in my dear daughter's computer... She is napping and was to bothered to let me tranfer it to my computer. IMAGINE!