When I look at my life, it is easy for me to split it up into phases. The first: Years 1 thru 18. A generally genuinely healthy childhood filled with hockey and cartoons and mickey mouse and school. The 2nd phase includes my young "adult" life: learning how to drink beer, getting through the distressing implications of failing university exams, figuring out how to talk to girls, and learning how to spend my time on the people or things most important to me. Ultimately, this decade-long phase led me to becoming the man I am today: a newly married man who could only find a himself a bride as wonderful as she is, thanks, in part, to the values I developed through Phase II, and also to the values instilled in me by Mom in those formative Phase I years. After all, how a man responds to crisis and interacts with family will definitely make a difference as to the type of partner he will attract.
That transition from Phase II to Phase III went relatively fast. My bride and I dated for about 40 months before getting wed. My Mom was in and out of cancer treatments for 41 months. The end of Phase II and the beginning of Phase III amount to 7 years of some of the saddest and happiest days I've lived. My wife will tell you that I have claimed that Ages 8 through 12 (Phase I) were my happiest, but I would submit that those days were a different kind of happiness. It's also conceivable that each Phase could be split into 3- or 4-year sub-sections: each where our personalities develop and our values change. Certainly, a 21-year old will have a different mindset than a 25-year old (at least in some ways) and the same can be said for Ages 6 vs. 10 or 14 vs. 17. I was not quite 30 when my Mom died and I was definitely different than I was 3 years earlier, before she got sick. My Phase II was unmistakenly ending.
WDW. That was not a bad way to move forward with Phase III of my life. It was helpful to be working again, and my Mom showed me how to have relatively affordable adventures for nearly 3 decades so spending a week in Florida was going to work out fine. I just knew that my girlfriend and I were going to have a good time together. In addition to Mickey Mouse and Harry Potter, we were slated for the Gainesville Propagandhi NYE show too! It is hard to say for sure the exact moment I fell in love with her was, but that trip was pretty damn' special. 11 months later I was proposing to her at the Lincoln Centre in NYC.
WDW. That was not a bad way to move forward with Phase III of my life. It was helpful to be working again, and my Mom showed me how to have relatively affordable adventures for nearly 3 decades so spending a week in Florida was going to work out fine. I just knew that my girlfriend and I were going to have a good time together. In addition to Mickey Mouse and Harry Potter, we were slated for the Gainesville Propagandhi NYE show too! It is hard to say for sure the exact moment I fell in love with her was, but that trip was pretty damn' special. 11 months later I was proposing to her at the Lincoln Centre in NYC.
I wouldn't call it a prolonged engagement but it allowed Kayla and I to really look at what this Phase III could potentially look like if we took the time and care in our relationship. The 21 months gave us ample time to plan our wedding and continue to simply enjoying doing the fun things like skiing Skoki and going to Mexico while loving our Cosmo, Jasper, Milo - and eventually - Felix!
Phase III included my adopting my Mom's maiden name, as she and her Mom meant more to me than my Dad ever did. It also gave us the comfort in both building something exciting and new with a legal change of name in our married life together.
I would be amiss to not detail one of the biggest highlights of Phase III (to date). That would be the last Saturday in August where my Kay and I met to be wed on a warm summer day on the University of Alberta's Devon Botanic Gardens. My fiancée found a beautiful place before she found her groom, and I couldn't have been happier to join her in a non-religious ceremony in front of our most cherished friends and family. She looked absolutely incredible. A stunning dress with all the right parts and teal shoes and an ovarian cancer ribbon and perfect hair topped with a tiara. Her face is super-beautiful, too. This Phase III thing was just getting better and better hour by hour...
We had an amazing wedding party, including her nurse friend, a high school friend, and a sister-in-law. I too had a high school friend who was able to perform violin for the ceremony, as well as stand as a groomsman. He played pieces from Studio Ghibli (specifically, a piece from Howl's moving castle called Merry-go-round of Life. My best man did a splendid job from morning to night (and the previous night letting me crash on his cot) and his sister and a British Columbian Colombian stood up for me as well.
We had a great party at the Lois Hole Enjoy Centre in St. Albert. We had the BEST food and an even better photographer that captured moments to late into the evening. Me and my new wife gave the most sincere of speeches, and my Best Man Matt's words were probably another highlight of the evening. A fun photobooth and a funny DJ topped it all off. I am pretty sure most people had almost as good of a time as me!
Our wedding allowed me opportunity to see family I wouldn't have ever expected to see soon otherwise, and also let me to get to know more of my bride's family better as well. I HAVE A SISTER NOW! AND NOT 1, NOT 2, but 3 NEPHEWS!! Too rad. I love all her family: it's nice to have family here that I know love me and I can love back just as much.
So there you have it. My life interpreted in 3 short phases. I think this 3rd will be AOK. I can't say for sure what the next will entail, but when it comes, I will take it all in stride. Until then I will continue to enjoy each and every day as much as I can with my sweet sugarplum.
Phase III included my adopting my Mom's maiden name, as she and her Mom meant more to me than my Dad ever did. It also gave us the comfort in both building something exciting and new with a legal change of name in our married life together.
I would be amiss to not detail one of the biggest highlights of Phase III (to date). That would be the last Saturday in August where my Kay and I met to be wed on a warm summer day on the University of Alberta's Devon Botanic Gardens. My fiancée found a beautiful place before she found her groom, and I couldn't have been happier to join her in a non-religious ceremony in front of our most cherished friends and family. She looked absolutely incredible. A stunning dress with all the right parts and teal shoes and an ovarian cancer ribbon and perfect hair topped with a tiara. Her face is super-beautiful, too. This Phase III thing was just getting better and better hour by hour...
We had an amazing wedding party, including her nurse friend, a high school friend, and a sister-in-law. I too had a high school friend who was able to perform violin for the ceremony, as well as stand as a groomsman. He played pieces from Studio Ghibli (specifically, a piece from Howl's moving castle called Merry-go-round of Life. My best man did a splendid job from morning to night (and the previous night letting me crash on his cot) and his sister and a British Columbian Colombian stood up for me as well.
We had a great party at the Lois Hole Enjoy Centre in St. Albert. We had the BEST food and an even better photographer that captured moments to late into the evening. Me and my new wife gave the most sincere of speeches, and my Best Man Matt's words were probably another highlight of the evening. A fun photobooth and a funny DJ topped it all off. I am pretty sure most people had almost as good of a time as me!
Our wedding allowed me opportunity to see family I wouldn't have ever expected to see soon otherwise, and also let me to get to know more of my bride's family better as well. I HAVE A SISTER NOW! AND NOT 1, NOT 2, but 3 NEPHEWS!! Too rad. I love all her family: it's nice to have family here that I know love me and I can love back just as much.
So there you have it. My life interpreted in 3 short phases. I think this 3rd will be AOK. I can't say for sure what the next will entail, but when it comes, I will take it all in stride. Until then I will continue to enjoy each and every day as much as I can with my sweet sugarplum.
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