Personal Affect #9. 8yr old message

old and wrinkled message I keep with me daily

The sky has been full of threats all day.  The radio has been buzzing about tornados and severe thunderstorms and to take cover NOW!  It's not very often I find myself home alone with just two dogs to take care of me during a time like this.  No, I'm usually at work with friends and coworkers to share the fear.  If ever I have had a good reason to go back to work, this is it.  I do not want to go through another today alone.

Today's events brought to mind other "storms" in life that I didn't have to endure alone.  In the photo above I am holding a message that was sent in a bouquet of flowers to my place of work over 8 years ago.  It says "Congratulations!  Here's to an even brighter future."  Love, Mom & Dad.  I had just made a huge career decision that later led to better opportunities.  I keep this note with me as a reminder that I can handle things on my own (with Tad of course), but mom & dad are never far away.

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Personal (Affect) #8 My Favorite Wedding Present

My favorite wedding present

Oh, no!  Don't get me wrong mom & dad, the wedding itself was the best present for sure.  It's just that this little block of wood runs a close second.  Allow me to back up.  The year was 1999 and I had just moved out of my apartment and into my first home.  One of the first people I met in the neighborhood was an outgoing little 9 year old girl named Kristin that lived with her grandmother.

Kristen was not your average girl.  She was smart, pretty, curious, kind and full of energy.  Okay, she sounds like a normal girl - but she wasn't to me.  We became fast friends.  Kristen was a thinker.  She was interested in the places that Tad and I had traveled, our vegetarian lifestyle, Willis (my dog), gymnastics and anything else for that matter.  She tagged along with me almost everywhere I went.  She was up for anything.  She worked hard at gymnastics and I think she even tried a vegetarian lifestyle.

Tad and I were married in 2001.  Kristen and her friend (Mary) came to our wedding with the present they made for us - a sign with the words "Welcome to the Drusky's" hand painted on the front.  We were overjoyed to receive such a thoughtful present.

I believe this sign marks the point in Kristen's life when she began growing up and creating a busy life of her own.  I don't see her much anymore because she is in college spending most of her time studying or being a world traveler.

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Personal (Affect) #7 My Song

"Let's Rome Around"

How many girls get to say a love song was written just for her?  Not many.  It's not because I'm a beautiful inspiring muse.  It's because my husband finds the beauty in everything he encounters - including me.  Tad is a talented guy with a heart full of music.  Anyone spending the smallest amount of time with him becomes changed for the better.  

Tad wrote this song in honor of our seventh wedding anniversary.  The number 7 is an important number to us so we celebrated this milestone with a trip to Rome, Italy - where we were originally supposed to be married if it weren't for the 9/11 attacks.  

If you haven't figured it out yet, Tad likes to surprise me.  One morning in Rome,  I awoke to see an ipod with earbuds on the pillow next to me. I inserted the earbuds and played the song already selected on the playlist.  It was the song he wrote, recorded and performed just for me.  Shortly after I listened to the song, Tad presented me with a new wedding band and asked me to marry him again, this time in Rome.

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Personal (Affect) #6. Monkey playing the symbols

LOT # 665: Figure of a monkey in persian robes playing the symbols

SOLD for 30 franks to the Vicomte de Chagney!  "A collector's piece indeed.  Every detail exactly as she said.  Will you still play when all the rest of us are dead?"  Phantom of the Opera

The Broadway Musical, Phantom of the Opera is our favorite show for many reasons.  It was the first play Tad took me to see.  Since then we have traveled to many places to see it; Canada, Texas, Las Vegas and Nashville are the first to come to mind.

Tad makes every trip magical.  We were just dating when we flew to Canada to see it.  It was a formal event  because it was the last showing at the Pantages Theatre and Paul Stanley of KISS played the Phantom.  Tad surprised me with a beautiful red velvet dress and made me feel like Cinderella.  The next time we saw it was in San Antonio, Texas.  It was a complete surprise to me.  Tad sent daily hints  before we left, one of them was a single yellow rose.  When we arrived in San Antonio, Tad surprised me with tickets to see The Phantom of the Opera.  While eating dinner after the show, Tad proposed.  I carried yellow and red roses in our wedding to commemorate that evening.

Personal (Affect) #5. Vienna Souvenir

Souvenir from the coldest place on earth

My husband and I spent our 2004 Christmas vacation in Vienna, Austria.  Tad chose Vienna because he knew I would enjoy the Christmas Markets (Christkindlmarkt).  These Little wooden huts are set up in the center of the city to sell antiques, crafts, jewelry, hot milled wine, baked goods and more.   Even though it was the coldest we have ever been, we managed to visit each one.  I found this little clown at an antique market but couldn't negotiate the man down to the dollar I wanted to pay so we left.  It didn't take long for the regret to set in.  I shouldn't have left him behind, I really liked it.  It was too late, we were leaving the next morning and it was way too cold to back-track.

As we were preparing to leave the next morning, Tad handed me a "surprise".  It was the little clown I left behind at the antique market.  Tad knew I regretted my decision and snuck back to the market to get it while I slept.  It's more than a souvenir to me now, it's a reminder of Tad's kind and selfless nature.  

Personal (Affect) #4. Old Purse

This purse is 60 years old.

I remember playing with this purse when I was a wee little girl. In fact, that's how it got the ink mark inside -  it's only blemish.  This purse was purchased (haggled for, I'm sure) during one of the many travel excursions my grandparents took in the 1950's.  No one can remember exactly where they got it, probably Mexico, Costa Rica or Hawaii.  My grandmother used it, then my mother and now me.  I love the studs and the burned etchings of flowers painted red.  The purses character comes to life with the scuffs and bruises in endured through 3 generations.

Personal (Affect) #3. Willis

"Willis"

My friend Brandy came along with me the day I chose my first pet.  I chose Willis because he didn't hang with the pack.  He was free spirited, funny and full of energy and was happy to be on his own.  We were kindred spirits.  We've been best friends since that day, thirteen years ago.   He is my bodyguard, a comedian and fiercely loyal.  Willis has been my partner through happy times, scary times, sad times, and meeting my one true love.