The Burlap Soulmate

We're back. Much fun was had by all but I'm very glad to be home after driving 10 hours straight and arriving at 4am last weekend.

Fun quiz: Which of the following did NOT happen on our honeymoon?

1) Poison Ivy
2) Strep Throat
3) Brochitus
4) The never ending runny nose

Wrong!. Trick question. They ALL did.

I'm looking forward to just having a normal, dull life for the short term. Just let me get up, go to work, come home, eat, go to bed, repeat. At least for a little while. Then I will be able to happily tackle the next crisis that comes up.

So, regular visitors to Staz already know about the new puppy, and have probably even seen pictures. But that still doesn't convey the overall iritation, frustration, and exhaustion of a new puppy.

What are you doing? Don't eat that! NO! Quit! Stop! All sort of meld together. I think he thinks his name is WhatrudoingNoSTop! He has to be watched 24/7 to avoid excessive damage to our house and it's various furnishings, and never seems to run out of energy, except for all to brief moments of respite when he actually sleeps.

Sort of puts the whole baby thing into perspective. Picture a spectrum, with a puppy, a BEAGLE puppy mind you, on the left side, a terrier or shepherd puppy somewhere in the middle, and a baby on the right. We're just getting a taste of what true life-being-put-upside-down frustration is.

As Staz is quick to emphasize, 'No Hurry.' I think that can apply to me as well.

So how big of an ass am I? Sometime during the past 7 years, during the highs and lows of our survival period, my cousin went and got himself published. Not just published, but critically acclaimed. Very humbling indeed. And I feel like such a selfish fool for being totally unaware of this until now. Thankfully, he was at our wedding, and I was able to catch up with him. I think I learned more about him and his siblings during that weekend than in the 25-30 years preceeding it.

If you haven't read it, go out and get it. It's very good and I'm not just saying that. Who knew so much talent resided in my family tree.

Reading it has really stirred up a lot in me, for a lot of reasons, because he's family, because the stories, places, and people are familiar, because the story itself is age old. There is more that I want to write about it, but am having trouble putting down in any kind of coherent fashion. But I will follow up. Promise.

In what has to be one of the most ironic of life twists, none of my family or friends, and I mean no one who was raised with any kind or religious upbringing currently subscribes to that religion. Example: My best man Mark? 12 years of Catholic school. Now a sworn atheist. Staz? Southern Baptist upbringing. Now, doesn't subscribe to any particular religion. But she does believe in God. I think...

I always knew my Aunt and Uncle were very religious. Not Spiritual, Religious with a capital R. Evangelical Christians. And their way was the only way. I never really took it seriously. But I neglected to consider what that kind of strict upbringing can do to a kid. It shows up in the book frequently. And my cousins' disillusionment with the church and with certain Christians stems from that upbringing.

Now consider the flip side. My dad was NOT religious at all. He converted to Catholicism only so he could marry my mom, and never set foot in a church ever again. When I was 12, my mom decided to go back to church on her own. She asked if my brother Jerry and I wanted to come with her. We did. We wanted to see what it was all about. And it was fun. No one told us how rotten we were. No one told us we'd better shape up. We were told only that Jesus was about love, and acceptance, and trying to always do the right thing. And even if you didn't He was there to forgive. The ability to be imperfect was very attractive to me then as it is now. But back to my original point. Even when Jerry decided he didn't ant to go anymore, and I wanted to make him, mom said no. And it was just us two for a while. The end result: Both Jerry and me, and my mom are still practicing Catholics.

Now the REALLY flip side. My other siblings, the ones that wanted NOTHING to do with religion, or God, or anything related to the two, are now the most devout, occasionally annoying, Evangelical Christians you've ever seen. The change is so dramatic, sometimes it's hard to take seriously. But I take comfort in that they are not quite so exclusionary or 'God-fearing' as many are. My neices are being taught as I was. It's your choice. God is love. Be imperfect.

And the really tough part is that all of the strict religious parents really did just want the best for their kids. They just wanted to do what was right. They just went about it in the wrong way. And it's hard to hate them for that. So maybe you can't. You just love them for trying.