Jenna’s Surgery – Our 14th Anniversary

Jenna’s Surgery – Our 14th Anniversary

Last Monday I received a call from Jenna’s surgeon. She told me that after looking at the results of Jenna’s cat scan, and consulting with other colleagues about Jenna’s situation, they decided this surgery for Jenna probably wouldn’t be helpful to her, and might actually make her situation worse. She mentioned that the area in Jenna’s middle ear is very small, and her ear canal is also narrow. I told her that if she didn’t think the surgery would work then we will cancel – seems like a no-brainer to me. It’s disappointing, but we are ready to go on to the next step which is to get Jenna fitted for some hearing-aids, its something we wanted to avoid if possible but now it seems like the next step. At least now Jenna will be able to enjoy her summer without having to recover from surgery. Jenna's surgery post is here.


Jenna and Leah earlier this week.

Today is our wedding anniversary – Cheryl and I - 14 years! Fourteen lucky years for me. Who else has a wife who’s beautiful, intelligent, and handy? Who can say they have a wife who can help with home renovation/repair projects and also do several on her own, who works full-time in a male dominated occupation, and is a loving mother to 5 kids who adore her? During the weekdays we are a tag team, but we always enjoy our weekends with our family. We are always behind with our house work and projects, but it (and the kids) keeps us busy. When we retire we will have earned it – that’s for sure.

Anniversary Trivia…

Our 1st date was New Year’s Eve 1996. We went bowling, but since it was a special night they had the loud music and the black lights out – so it was a psychedelic date. I wish I had pictures, but it might’ve been cheesy to bring a camera on our first date. Besides I don’t think I even owned a camera at that time, which would explain why I have no pictures from these times. My parents gave us a nice Pentax camera for a wedding gift and we used it to take many of our pictures for awhile.

Cheryl was married to her 1st husband Dave for a little over 13 years, so we got that beat now. So 13 years with Dave and now 14 years with me – Cheryl has spent 27 years being married to someone!


The A&W where Cheryl used to work, also on Ellis Blvd and 6 blocks from the river.

Cheryl worked at the A&W Drive-in that was in my old neighborhood where I grew up for years. I remember her from there but she doesn’t remember me. We have known each other since 1988 when we were in the same communication electronics program at our local college. Then we both got jobs at the same place in 1990, and we eventually became friends and got to know each other well until we started going out in 1996, going into 1997.

I asked Cheryl to marry me like this (I’m paraphrasing here)… “I already know you well enough that I know I want to marry you”. I don’t remember what she said, but logically if she felt the same way then we would be married one day.

I remember our favorite dates were cheap ones, just hanging out at my old trailer and watching movies and other stuff. Cheryl helped me fix up my trailer so I could improve my chances of selling it, and I helped Cheryl fix up her old house so her husband would have to pay her more to buy her out so he could keep living there. That’s when we learned we are a great team.


Cheryl's old apartment building at 610 I Avenue. N.W., about 5 1/2 blocks from the river - after the 2008 flood.

Cheryl had a couple of horses (still has them) and I believe 4 dogs (still have dogs, but different ones). She had to keep her horses at her sister Heather’s house because she lived in the city. When she was looking for a house for us (she’s the expert so she did the hunting), it had to be an acreage where her horses could have a place to stay, as well as her dogs, and I. She found our place, and we moved in on our wedding night.


Our house (early days).


Our house (more recently)

Neither Cheryl nor I (especially I) wanted to make a big deal about our wedding, so we went the Justice of the Peace route. We each needed a witness so my sister Cathy was my witness, and Cheryl’s mom Lois was her witness. Both of our fathers invited themselves to the ceremony. It was just a normal weekday and people were working. Both of our families ate at Red Lobster afterwards.


6-16-1997 A Wedding Photo.

So Cheryl and I spent the next 14 years gradually renovating our home and property, and building our little family of seven, traveling to different countries halfway around the world to receive and bring home our children. It’s been quite a trip so far, so let’s just keep it going.

Happy Anniversary Cheryl!