Monday, June 1, 2009

Against all odds

This past few days a Brad Paisley song kept popping into my thoughts. I is not one of his hits. It is a song called, "If love was an Airplane". He states that people fall in love no matter what the risk or the future and in the chorus has a pilot giving pre-flight information to the lovers saying, "Thanks for flying, but there is a 6 in 10 chance we are going down!"



When Carol and I got married the odds were better about 60% success rate. Before long the rate went to 50%. After 10 years of marriage we lost our first child and were told that couples going through such a loss have an 80% chance of divorce. Then 10 years later I was in a funk that was called by the therapist (clinical depression), by an observer (mid life crisis), but in reality I was a self absorbed guy who was not a good husband or dad. The odds of surviving that should have been 99% failure. The key in defying all these odds was being married to the most wonderful woman in the world. Without her, there is absolutely no telling where I would be. She has weathered a lot more than me, because she had to put up with me. She is shy to talk about her self, but she knows more about "real life" than most and has a gentle yet firm nature that is the anchor in anything we have faced. I hope my kids realize that she is the strength of our family and that I pale in comparison. How could they not!



I say all this to say: Today is our 41st anniversary! We lasted longer than the Beatles!



Happy Anniversay to us!

3 comments:

Lori said...

Happy Anniversay!!

I must say she is a wonderful role model. I could not ask for a better mother-in-law.
I am pretty sure that Nate feels the same about both of you guys.
Avery, Addison, and soon to be Asher have awesome grandparents to look up to.

Thank you and Love you guys!!!
Lori

David Hall said...

Many more to one of the most wonderful couples we know. Keep enjoying life, family and the journey! We love you both.

H. Shae said...

Mike, congrats to you and Carol on 41 years together. Thanks for being honest about who you are and not pretending that everything's peachy keen all the time. Real life is what everyone faces and its good to know folks can go thru hardships and still stay together despite the odds!