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Love in the time of pandemic

When I first met this man, in 1982 at PT O'Malley's in East Lansing after a miserable loss to Ohio State, I had no idea it was THE pivotal moment of my life and the start of a lifetime journey. If I had known, I would probably have dressed better and had someone take a picture of us dancing in front of the jukebox (before I chose to dip without telling him and we both landed on the floor!).

 I started to get the idea, however, that he was my life-partner later that night when he asked if he could drive me home and I said yes. Prior to my agreement, I probably should have ascertained where he parked - because we had to walk from the pub on Grand River Avenue to the back-forty, commuter lot on the other side of campus. For those unfamiliar with MSU's campus in the '80s, it was about a gazillion miles!! We never made it, because we were going slow talking, laughing and kissing that once we got about half-way we stopped in to a dorm to call a taxi (this was back before cell phones and Uber, when you had to have a dime to use a pay phone!).

 And it was along that walk and subsequent ride, that I had an inkling I could spend the rest of my life talking and laughing and kissing with John Piggins. We clicked and married in 1988, 32 years ago today!

 After 32 years of marriage, I can honestly say that it's sweet to get to this point in our marriage too because the love is deeper and the relationship easier and more solid than I could have ever imagined on that fateful fall day. To have such a wonderful,substantial, constant love and support is a blessing - especially amidst this pandemic. It's a comfort too, for me as a woman full of self-doubt, to have John my self-declared 'biggest fan' by my side. Our greatest 'achievement' as a couple is not as some might think I'd claim the three not-so-little Piggins, it's that we have made it to 32 years of marriage and we are still in love with one another. Who could have guessed when they saw us puddled on the floor, laughing at our folly, in front of the jukebox at PT O'Malley's? (Damn, I'm grateful there weren't cell phones to record THAT!!)

 Together we have battled throat cancer, breast cancer, heart issues, prostate cancer and multiple sclerosis. We have grieved over the loss of loved ones together. We have successfully so far raised three children to be wonderful young adults. We have lived in three different homes and different cities. We have had a few job changes and been unemployed. We have traveled to London and Ireland (pics above) and oodles of places closer to home. We have had one son get married to a wonderful life partner (and we pray they have as many years together!). We have a son live abroad in Uganda and London (talk about gratitude for cell phones and Facetime). And we have a daughter living her passion for theater and making her living in it as well. And we have a deep faith in God and we know that we can lean on and trust God's guidance in our lives.
We have this life together. Life together.

 Happy 32 years, John. I love you deeply, passionately and strongly. You are my life partner, best friend and right now, a pretty damn good coworker as we quarantine together.
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Comments

  1. UnknownApril 14, 2020 at 6:58 AM

    What a wonderful story....and yes, that is a long walk across campus.

    ReplyDelete

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It's not a popularity contest, but ...

Francis of Assisi would run away from home if he lived here!

The title might be a bit extreme - Francis might just go to his room and shut the door and put a pillow over his head to silence the 'noise'. I have done that on occasion. And not because I have toddlers, or a kid that plays the drums or even really loud kids - it's because I live in a house where there is one lawyer, one law school student, and two more potential lawyers. And me - the one singing "Let there be peace on earth . . ." The other four Piggins family members enjoy debating. Sometimes, I think for the sake of the debate. John, Michael, Matthew and Delaney seem to really like these 'discussions'. For instance, we were watching a television show recently - I cannot even recall which one, but it seemed fairly bland - when one of the barrister Piggins made a comment that inspired disagreement from another barrister Piggins. That inspired another from another. And then one more from another until the four of them were debating on some point that wa...
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WWJD?

What would Jesus do? I love to ponder that question when faced with a difficult or challenging decision. Like many of you, I had one of the WWJD wristbands and it worked as a great visual, moral compass. In situations like: "Should I start swearing at the driver of the car going 55 in the left lane of an interstate with a posted speed limit of 70 with the three little Piggins in the back seats of my mini-van?" First, even though Jesus never had a mini-van or children for that matter (unless you read or watched 'The Da Vinci Code' and follow the story line of Mary Magdalene being the wife of Jesus ... boy did I digress!), I'm pretty sure in this case, Jesus would not have sworn and certainly not thought awful thoughts about some idiot that didn't know that the left lane was for passing ... or how about a situation like this: You're in the express check out lane at the grocery story with the granola bars you promised to bring to your son and his team...
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