An Ode to Alison

So this was going to be something different tonight, but then it changed..............that is the nature of my writing. There is no rhyme or reason. It turns out to be something different than I expect every time I write.

I was driving home from getting gas and this song came on the radio. You see, I have been listening a lot to SiriusXM's Love station. Don't ask why. I don't know why. But I have been.

Wait, I do know why. As I emerge from the dark place I was in, I come to light. What is light personified if not love? Right? We think of bad things as dark places and when we go to the light, we go to love. We go to what makes us happy.

So, this song came on, and it was talking about being bent, not broken. That was us. We were bent. We sure as heck weren't broken. I mean, how much does a couple have to put up with before you break? Where is that breaking point?

She met me when I was 14 and a complete loser. I admit it. I thought I was cool. Turns out, I wasn't cool. I didn't know what cool meant. I was shy, spoke funny, and wasn't the world's most outgoing guy.

She started dating me at 16. My nickname was Gobstopper. This girl went out with a dude whose nickname at the time was Gobstopper. Who would do that other than an angel? We did prom, then homecoming, then prom again. Somehow, during this time, she made me fall in love with her. She brought me out of my shell, made me less awkward, watched me grow. Heck, she didn't watch me grow, she was the sunlight, air and water - I was full of enough fertilizer.

She helped me make it through college. She was my motivation to succeed when I had to put a ring on her finger. After all, if she would put up with me when I was in high school, I knew I had a catch. She continued to be my motivation.

She has been my rock the last 4 years. I don't know how she does it. She makes me laugh when I want to cry. She makes me smile when I want to frown. She makes my heart skip a beat when she smiles at me.

So yes, we were bent. We sure weren't broken. She kept us strong, kept us together. And for that, I shall be forever grateful to my wife, the strongest woman I know, the most amazing person I have met, and my love.