Our Favorite Hangout

Thank you to everyone who linked up their blog posts last Monday! Don’t worry if you missed it; there’s another linky at the bottom of this blog post! The blog post with the most “likes” last week was The Girl I Used to Be, from There’s Just One Mommy! If you haven’t read it yet, go read it now, and then come back to link up your Monday post.

I have a Chili’s gift card burning a hole in my wallet. On Saturday, we took my brother-in-law to the airport, and I thought it would be fun to go to Chili’s right by the airport. The parking lot looked full, so I ran in to check the wait time–an hour and a half! Ed said he had a better idea, and I knew what it was as soon as he said it.

We were going to Countryside.

Countryside Saloon used to be our place. Ed and I spent every weekend at Countryside before we had kids. It was were we would just talk and talk over a couple of beers and a pizza. The thin crust pizza is so crisp and the edges are burnt just a tiny little bit. All their other food is just as good as the pizza. During the long summer evenings, we would sit out on the deck and relax after a long week.

We don’t go to Countryside very often these days. When we do, we still order a pizza and beer. We also add a couple of lemonades to our order. Ed and I don’t get to talk as much as we used to. There are two little ones competing for our attention. We don’t mind, though. The girls love Countryside pizza as much as we do.

Do you have a place where you love to hang out?

meme free mondaysWhy “Meme-Free Mondays?” Because there’s no meme rules to follow!

Simply link up your Monday post here!


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Wearing Blinders

I always say that when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I was single. That’s not entirely true; I had a boyfriend. I don’t talk about him much. He was a very nice guy and I thought I loved him. He, however, didn’t love me back. I stayed with him for much longer than I should have.

There’s this phrase that I couldn’t stop thinking about in the years after my mastectomy. “Damaged Goods.” It means different things to different people, and in my case I just couldn’t believe that anyone would love me after my breast cancer surgeries. It’s one of the reasons I stayed with a man who didn’t love me.

A relationship can’t last long without love, and after we had been dating for about two years, that boyfriend and I finally broke up. I had a couple of dates, but I never got to the point where I told another man that I had had cancer.

love after breast cancer

Then along came Ed.

Ed and I knew each other for years. We both went to the same church and said “Hi” to each other every Sunday. I had a little crush on him. Finally, I worked up the nerve to ask him out for coffee.

It only took one date to know that we were going to start seeing a lot of each other.

And when I saw him smiling at me from across the gym Easter morning during our church’s brunch, I knew.

I knew he didn’t care what I had gone through.

I knew he didn’t think of me as damaged goods.

He gave me a smile that was just for me.

Two years into our relationship, he pulled out a ring and asked me to be his wife.

A long time ago, I asked him to write about how he feels, being married to a breast cancer survivor. Ed wrote,

I seldom think about my wife’s history with cancer. Maybe it’s because I’m wearing blinders, or maybe it’s because there’s really nothing different about her that’s due to her cancer. Although it’s a part of who she is, I tend to focus on other things a whole lot more.

Ten years into our marriage, we both focus on a whole lot more. We focus on our daughters and our family. We go through highs and lows, like any other couple. We fight. We make up. He’s not perfect; I’m not perfect. But never once in our whole relationship have I ever thought about those words again.

I’m not damaged goods, and Ed’s love proves it to me.

Just Married

Second Blooming

I’m writing today about “Love” for the Spin Cycle at Second Blooming. Click on the button above to read more about love!

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