I just recently completed my masters degree in history. It was a grueling ride. It took four years to get there, one challenging class at a time. I had a great deal of things vying for my attention besides the ever present school work. There was the day job, the part time work and the endless stream of laundry. I'd like to be able to say that I maintained at least marginal cleanliness and order during my ordeal but let's face it, that would be a lie. I made peace with the dust bunnies and chose to ignore the mountains of paperwork and piles of clutter accumulating in the corner. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Through the chaos there were tears, laughter and the occasional panic attack. Looking back now, I can safely say that it was worth it.
I learned a great deal from this experience. I became fluent in the unnatural language of "scholarly journals" which I believe rank right up there among the most difficult dialects in the world to decipher. I learned that a sense of humor is not always appreciated by the intellectuals that make up the world of academia. My colleagues were all business the majority of the time but when they did cut loose they had the ability to unveil a whole other level of funny. (Think Big Bang Theory on steroids.) I finally acquired the fine art of gathering pertinent information without reading every single word of the text. I learned that grammar actually had the nerve to change over the past twenty years. (Really? I didn't even know that was possible!) I discovered that you are never too old to learn, grow or dream. I learned that sometimes the best students are the old folks and most importantly I figured out that any great accomplishment is never achieved alone.
Epaminondas could never have beaten the mighty Spartans without the help of his Sacred Band. Justinian would never have enjoyed his prosperous career as a Byzantine Emperor had it not been for the bravery and tenacity of his wife, Theodora and I could have never, ever completed this masters without the help of my wonderful husband, patient children and loving parents.
Michael and I have been married for twenty one years. Not bad considering that both of us had some pretty serious commitment issues prior to getting together. One thing that has remained consistent throughout our marriage is that we always have each other's back, no matter what. When he wanted to go into physical education, I encouraged him and when I decided at thirty to go back to school and get an interior design degree, he returned the favor. Oh we have our disagreements and we have had our share of ups and downs like any couple but we always seem to meet somewhere in the middle. I am fortunate to have such a wonderful man in my life and for this weeks pay it forward I am going to do something that I know will make him deliriously happy. That's right, I am going to clean out the garage!
The current state of our house resembles a disorderly war zone. There just has not been any time to do the things that need done. Michael has always wanted a work area in the garage but that has been impossible due to the junk that we, well mostly I, have accumulated over the years. It is so bad that every time we try to organize the garage we end up with so much stuff in the driveway that folks start slowing down to see if we are having a yard sale. So I am going to devote at least a couple of hours every week to working on the garage as my thank you gift to Michael for all his patience and help over the past few years and I figure by this time next year I should have the job completed. ;) In addition I am going to make sure that he knows just how much I value his loyalty, strength, devotion, patience and unconditional love. Michael remains one of the finest gifts of my life. He is all I could have ever hoped for and much, much more. How lucky I am to have been so blessed!
Laurie
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