And then there are days like these... When Mik's worlds collide...

As of late, I've written of some of the struggles of my family and loved ones. It's been rough sometimes. Filled with worry, frustration, disappointment, anxiety... the usual suspects. So with all of that going on, I also tried to temper things with the fact that my gal pal's parents were going to be meeting my family for the first time on the weekend. I was worrying... I'll be honest. I was poopin' pickles wondering how was I going to clean the place up and make it homey enough and get food ready for the gathering on Saturday. I figured I'd be toast. But the one thing I believed and worked at trying put into action, was my faith. It's easy to say 'I have faith' or 'Yeah, I have faith in God'... I can give lipservice with the best of them. Well, this time, I knew I had to really put my money where my mouth is... I had to lay it down and let go and give it to God. Considering the back drop of everything leading up to this, the easy thing to do would be to just say 'the hell with it' and be a whiner about everything. But then, by ME having the utter gall to think I could do all this alone... HA! Who's kidding who here? I knew I couldn't... so I prayed... I prayed hard. And just when things seemed darkest... God answered my prayer. He put it in my kid sister's heart to come over with her sons to help me get the place presentable by decorating the walls and windows... (I'm such a bachelor... I don't know jack about decorating)... The boys went swimming at the beach and had a blast. I began to feel so much better. I was getting stuff done a little at a time. My refridgerator (which died a horrible death) was in the kitchen and the garbage men wouldn't take it so I put it out for someone to take it. I had the small micro-fridge though to get me through the weekend. So I knew I'd get through that. Then the coup de gras... The food for the get together. Major problem... I'm not much of a cook. I can do some things okay... but not great. Not even close. So I was over at Terri's house. She was still wobbly from the chemo therapy. But being Terri, she asked me about the weekend up coming. I told her I was probably going to by some take out or something and put it out for everybody. She said 'no way'. I asked her if she thought she'd feel well enough to help me a little. She said 'I will be fine' and offered to cook for me. As for cooking skills, let's put it this way... growing up at home, when my friends would come over and we'd get ready to go out... they asked if she'd feed them instead of us going out to eat. To say Terri is an awesome cook is a gross understatement. To this day, I'd rather go to her house to eat dinner, than to go out to a 5-star restaurant for free. So I went over on Saturday morning and loaded up my car with everything and headed back to my place. Oh, did I mention Terri is an awesome cook? That girl is amazing! My sister whipped up two distinct meals in case some of the folks didn't like mexican food. In addition, she made two different large desserts for after dinner. And sent me away with extra chairs and a big card table in case I didn't have enough room on my table for everything. I tried to give her more money for everything, but she wouldn't take it. "Ah, I just grabbed a few things out of my freezer and whipped them together." That's typical Terri. The only thing she didn't do was come to the get-together because she went to the rehab place to be with Lou. Now Lou is feeling better and improving from everything. She was miserable and disoriented earlier in the week. But on the weekend, she started to remember everything and was feeling a lot better. And they say there is no God... HA! So I bring the food and everything in the house and my gal pal and her parents arrive. My other family members are late in arriving so it's just the four of us. I wanted to just grab a cane and top hat and entertain them or something to keep them from just sitting there and doing nothing. My gal pal's mom offered to help me, but I told her that she was here to relax and take it easy, and not to be working. So I'm getting stuff ready. And then since I knew they were hungry, I saw where Terri whipped up some homemade salsa... and tortilla chips to go with them. So I grabbed those and served them that to tie them over till the meal. Well, they started by saying "just a little Mik, just to try it. Don't want to ruin our appetite." Uh, two plate fulls of chips and salsa later, my family show up. Then the fun began...
In another hand of God moment, my family and her family simply hit it off perfectly. My nephews just loved her parents and vice-versa. My kid sister was a riot and my other older nephew's fiance' came over and I just sat there and watched them all just have a blast. By the end of the day, my gal pal's parents were almost demanding that my kid sister and brother in law and the boys go down to their place and spend time at their cabin. How could this be topped?
Simple. God gave us Sunday! I woke up and met my gal pal's family at the motel and we headed to church. I was a little apprehensive at first because where I go to church, it's a little more uh, contemporary, than the church where they go. But even that, was not a problem as once the service started and the band played, they rocked the house. And the message preached really hit home and hit me but good. It was about how we all in some way or another try to impress... not in the same way, or to the same degree. But we have in the past. I thought about this weekend and how I was during the week and could only smile and nod. After church, my gal pal's dad told me "that first song was a little hard rocking for me but that's because of my age. Other than that, I'm right on board with what your church is doing Mik." I smiled and we headed to eat lunch. The afternoon had us go do a little window shopping at an outdoor mall. My gal pal's dad bought a pair of Fubu tennis shoes and showed them to me and asked if I had ever heard of them. I held back my chuckle and smiled and said "yes, it's a well known brand... amongst the young hip-hop generation." He liked them though so he was happy, and in the end, that's what it's all about.
After the outdoor mall, my gal pal's parents went back to the motel to rest, and me and the gal pal went to go see Lou. Terri was already there so she got to meet both of my sisters. They hit it off wonderfully and I didn't have to spend much in the way of introductions. They started talking together and picking on me a little... after spending time there, my gal pal and I met her parents later for dinner at Applebee's. I ordered a combo plate that included a keylime pie for dessert and my gal pal reminded me that I'm diabetic and shouldn't be eating that so I reluctantly put the spoon down. lol..
After dinner, her parents headed back to the motel to relax and me and my gal went over to the pier by the beach to watch the sunset. The water was calm, and even though it's August, it was a little on the chilly side. I got a coat for her to wear while we were out there and spent time watching the beautiful midwestern skyline. I just looked in her eyes and fell in love with this girl over and over again. I told her flat out "honey, you are stuck with me.." to which she happily responded "para siempre" which is spanish for 'forever'... if I wasn't diabetic before this, I would've been with the gooey, sticky-sweet nothings we were saying to each other...lol... it was simply perfect.
As they left for home on monday morning. I had two prevailing thoughts... the first one was "God is so good." I came into this weekend in a state of anxiety and disorganization, and He blessed me with peace, and perspective and I believed in Him and He put people in my path that allowed me to have such an amazing weekend. To Him be the Glory. The second prevailing thought from this previously very staunch and stubborn bachelor was: "y'know, I'm going to have to marry that girl..."