I have to go on record that soccer moms have a tough job.
My wife, Suzie, was a lacrosse mom. Well, actually a lacrosse, drama, girl scout, school, home school, homework, piano lesson, softball, t-ball, grocery shopping, cooking, choir, church, cleaning, ironing, washing, girl-scout-cookie-selling, ticket-hawking, refreshment-serving, book-reading, medic, cross-country mom. I’m sure I left something out. Perhaps her title: Encourager In Chief.
Now, I worked hard, sometimes 18 hours a day. Or I thought I worked hard. But I have to admit, I underestimated Suzie until now.
What Changed?
Well, I didn’t just become more sensitive overnight. I didn’t take a course. I didn’t get counseling. Instead, I had to become her, just a little.
When my Mom got sick, I was able to jump in and take care of her. Not looking for any points here. It wasn’t an option. She’d done so much for so many for so long, it was time for me to do a bit.
Between working at home doing audio via internet and taking care of her, I was a little busy.
The Book
Then I made the decision to finally write Suzie’s story. It’s an incredible survival story and I’ve been noodling around with it for a long time.
But life is short. Mom’s sudden allergic reaction to a medication sent her into full blown dementia until we figured it out. It was a clarion call to action – get on with it!
I began making progress. Pages started piling up.
The Blog
Then I decided to start a blog to begin to find the people that might like the book. I thought I could handle it all and I kind of did. It stretched me a good bit but I felt productive and the future looked good.
The last blog I did used Joomla and I decided to switch to WordPress for this one. The learning curve was steeper than I thought but I’m getting there. There’s a long to-do list but it’s slowly coming along.
The Puppy
Then my daughter sent me a text message before Christmas with a picture of the cutest puppy. “Can we give Mom a puppy for Christmas?” it said. We’d been without a dog for almost two years and Suzie was starting to tear up at every pet commercial. I knew she was ready. I knew I was ready. I thought, we can do this!
Now I have Mom, a book, a blog and a teething puppy to train. Finally, I’m starting to understand my wife.
The Epiphany
Now, a puppy and a Mom do not equal the task of raising three adventurous kids and a musical husband but I am starting to see the light.
Today I decided to condemn Nessie to her first kennel so I could take Suzie out to what we now call an “indoor restaurant” (AKA not dog friendly). It was a small show of thanks for the years she made our family the wonderful thing it is from the amazing mess that we are.
We love you Suzie. And kudos to all soccer moms.
Photo: Goal! by Geomangio vis Flickr
