Here We Go... 2008 till here

2008 till here was a wild ride. In 2008 my life was upheaved. It was turned upside down... literally and physically. Knocked out, coming out of a daze. Then again when I came home. Leaving an evening of drinking behind, I had nothing - no one (other than my team leader). I didn’t care. I had money. Good money. Didn’t matter. I didn’t care. Homecoming party, drank half a keg of beer with my friends and family and some absinthe, bought in Germany; creating a very drunk me. It was not enough.

I had decided to pull a “Leaving Las Vegas“ style of life. Like I said, 2008 till here was not easy.

Weird things happened 2008 till here

I’d been having conversations with my team leader and my best friend, Tim, he knew what I was going through and we drank through it together. Until he couldn’t because of things... But I was trying too, still. I decided to go down to my friend Adam’s place in West Lafayette. My life was fizzling, but I put on a good face. No one knew what I was going through - I wasn’t talking about it... to anyone. Tim knew, but I didn’t think he knew... Made it down to my friend's apartment and it was time to drink. The only thing was no one was “drinking”... Not what I was doing. Furthermore; I just kept going. Or I was going to.

I was told we were going out to eat. We had to pick up two more people on the way, Adam and his girlfriend were already there, we had to pick up their other roommate and her friend - whom I was to have nothing to do with... “She was a good girl!” Me: womanizer. Hmm, weird didn’t know that till after the fact. But we picked them up, from the moment the two girls got in car I was an oblivious ass to them... Didn’t need to let my friends down.

However; that all changed when we got to Applebee’s.

Being Lutheran saved my life...

I’d already been drinking and I was buying beer at the restaurant. I had a new camera that I was playing with where I took a picture of the girls in front of Applebee’s. Umm. Their rear-ends, that is, I wasn’t really taking a picture of them, but that’s what I’m accused of, well whatever, it makes the story better!

I put the camera away in Adam’s car and walked into the restaurant and ordered a beer. Tall Blue Moon. The conversation of where I’d been the last year and a half came up and the conversation was started. Somehow, remember Sarah and Leslie (the girls we’d picked up) were under the impression that I was a womanizer. It’s a fun role to try to play, but then the topic of religion came up.

Remember: “I’m a womanizer...” Well, that narrative went right out the window. We started talking about the church, God, my love of Jesus, and my fear of dying. The conversation was mainly between Sarah and me. She said something, it struck a chord. “What denomination are you?” She said she was Lutheran.

Holy shit! Right?

“No way! I’m a Lutheran! What synod are you?” Sarah thought it was a total line. Remember womanizer!

“Wisconsin Synod.”

“No way…” I said, “I am Missouri Synod.” She was thinking I was all a line, but little did She know that I had proof. I took off my dog tags and slid them over to her. Sarah looked at them and kind of gasped. I wasn’t lying. And I am not a womanizer. Never was, never will be…

Our wedding anniversary is July 25

From that day, I knew that I met somebody special. Furthermore, I knew that she was the one I can spend my life with. The problem was, I was me. It took me a couple of weeks, a huge cell phone bill, And a lot of time in between analyzing my thoughts. I had talked to Tim, and he knew before I knew.

I realized that leaving Las Vegas wasn’t the way I wanted to live it was my past. We spent weeks and weeks talking to each other, not that mushy-gushy type of talking either. We talked about life!

So as I stated in a heading earlier, being Lutheran saved my life. Sara meant everything to me, means everything to me. The fact of the matter is, she saved my life and she didn’t know it.

We were married the next year, 2009, and we are still going strong! Three kids a dog, a house with a mortgage, friends, and family that we love and cherish, and a healthy relationship with our Lord.

Growing up wasn’t hard to do

From 2008 till here we have worked hard at living life. Moving on with her life after we got married was easy! I was no longer a drunk, or a “Womanizer” - Nor was I ever, and here we are! I love my wife more than I ever have, and look forward to living this life with her forever!

Until next time…

PEACE