What makes my life "Great" continued

As I grew from my early youth into my adolescence, I found new things that would help shape my life. Little did I know that at the age of fourteen my life was about to change....

One late summer day I was mowing the lawn due to the fact that it was now my responsibility because my father allowed me to trick myself into this chore, when I noticed the girl that lived across the street walking with an older girl (one my age) to her house. I need to point out here that I was a skinny, goofy, shy, introvert that had no friends and really spoke to no one. For some reason I proudly walked over to the two (since I knew the girl from across the street), said hello, and then introduced myself to the unknown girl walking with her. She said hello, and that was the start of things that would bring me to what makes my current life ....great.

The girl and I became the best of friends in a very short time, we talked all the time, weather it be in person, or by phone. She saw me for me with no pre-conceived notions formed by others. We laughed, we hung out, we played (no not that way) in general had a great time, and at that moment...My life was great.

Then summer passed, and fall came and went. Unfortunately just as fast as the seasons had gone, so did our time together. The house that her parents had built was complete, and just as winter was beginning, I would be spending it alone and friendless, just as I had many other winters before. It felt as if my life was not so great anymore.

We kept in touch at the beginning, but that diminished over time. I can remember her coming into the BK I was working at later the following summer. When I saw her my eyes lit up, and just as she saw me for me the previous year, she didn't treat me any less because I was wearing a BK uniform. Just from this one visit, I was happy for a whole month. Well....at least it felt like a month. The next time I saw her, was when I drove my moped to her house. I stayed there till her mother came home and kindly evicted me. She said to her daughter "If you are too sick to go to school, you are too sick to have visitors". Once again quite some time would pass before I would see her again.

Three years later...... I was headed out to a friends house and had my hand on the door to leave the house when the phone rang. I hesitated for a moment, then decided to answer the call. Wouldn't you know...It was her. She said "A few friends and I are going to the shore, would you like to come with us?" and withoutt skipping a beat I said yes. So we went to the shore, had pizza, played mini-golf, and had a good time. So much of a good time that on the way back, I leaned over to her and whispered "do you want to go to the movies", of course everyone in the car had developed the hearing of a bat and responded with "YES". Ok, well I guess it will be just as it was before, two friends hanging out. The movie we saw was Old School with Rodney Dangerfield. It was a comedy, but for some reason during the movie, we looked at each other and our eyes connected, and BAMMMM there was that first kiss it was absolutely the best thing I had ever experienced in my entire life. Once again..My life was great.

From that point forward we had spent every single moment together. We got married in 1991 and have since been together for 24 years and married for 18 years of them.

I wouldn't trade my life in for anything. My wife/best friend couldn't make me happier than I am, she is my everything to me and there isn't anything I wouldn't do for her. She is absolutely the best person I know on this earth. She is beautiful, intelligent, kind, giving, considerate, compassionate, artistic, caring, and so much more that it would take months just to type.

To definitively answer the question of this topic, what makes my life great is:

my Wife.

My Youth

I can remember as early as 4 years old. In fact my oldest memory is of my Father and I walking through the park (Menlo Park in Edison NJ) in the fall. I can remember the crunch of amber colored leaves under our feet, the earthy smell of the forest, the swings and other kids with their parents laughing and smiling…. Well at least the kids. It’s strange how I can remember seeing some parents that looked annoyed or bored or in general, not as happy as the children they were with, but I was happy and my father looked happy too and my life was "Great"

I have many memories from that starting point.

I can remember the simple things that caused hours and hours of enjoyment and made my life at that time “great”:

 Sliding down grassy hills on waxed cardboard for hours and hours, then coming back the next day to do it all again, while my grandfather waxed his car, or sat in the sun listening to 1010WINS.

Making things out of lego’s for hours at a time. Not things that made any sense either. Cars with 34 wheels on them, after all, shouldn’t every car be able to still ride down the road no matter which of its 7 sides it’s on?

Having water gun fights inside the house while my grandmother was trying to watch her soap operas on tv. When it got out of hand, the threat of the belt would be announced, and we would not have water gun fights any longer that day, at least inside the house.

Riding bicycles around town and not having to worry about getting kidnapped or mugged or any of the wonderful things that families now have to worry about.

There are many other events in my early childhood that made life seem great. I’m not going to list them all, because that would take forever. The bottom line is that what constitutes great when you’re a child, is vastly different than what constitutes great, when you’re an adult.

When your young and people say "Youth is wasted on the young" as a child , your response is "Those old people have no idea what they are talking about" as an adult, you start to reflect on your youth and agree with "Those old People". I'm not saying that I reget my youth or what I have done during my youth. Our youth is what shapes our lives and steers us on a course that brings us to where we are today.

What makes my life great pt. 1

That’s an interesting question, in fact, if you ask yourself the same question it’s pretty deep. With so many things that can impact your life in both positive and negative ways, how can you narrow it down to a significant event or person or item that makes it “great” or for some, maybe not so great. For me the answer is simple, however, you are not getting off the hook that easily. Yes you will need a rundown of my life so far to truly understand my answer to the question.