Nadine - Christmas '07
Gramma - Dazzling the boys in '06
In a miraculous sequence of events, I get the pleasure of celebrating 2 birthdays every year within 10 days of each other. The Woman who dared me to dream even as a baby, Gramma; and the Woman who made my dreams come true, Nadine.
They are 2 generations apart, but there is no gap between them. They each have meant so much to me throughout my life, I can't describe on one post how much they have enriched my life.
Gramma has always loved me unconditionally and challenged me to see the world in a way I didn't know how to see it. I have always imaged that she knew exactly how to enjoy great moments better then anyone I have ever known - Birthdays, Weddings, Births, Holidays, World Series, Vacations.... No truly important event in my life would have been complete without her presence. I have met a few people in my life who were really good at sizing up people, knowing them for what they truly were. I have also known a few people who were very accepting of all people with all of there faults. But, I have never known someone who was so exceptional at both skills, knowing a person AND accepting them regardless of what they were. That is my Gramma.
Nadine caught me off guard in the Summer of 1993. I wasn't expecting to find the love of my life. I was busy getting a Master's Degree and discovering Boston for the first time as an adult. I noticed how physically beautiful she was the first time I saw her in the gym at Simmons College. And it took only 2 meetings to notice what a beautiful, passionate, brilliant person she was (not bad for a 24 year old male). Nadine once told me that she had a dream before she met me and that I was in the dream. She knew I was the one in the dream when she saw me, because of my red hair, (yes, it was red once) and there were 3 beautiful kids in the dream (I don't know what I would have done if she had said 6 kids?!). And in the dream, we were sitting on a hill, with our kids and looking out across the land. I have always held an image of that dream that we are living now, especially when I celebrate her birthday. I'm not sure exactly what the hill is (I do think we are climbing up it right now), but I know one day I'll be sitting on that hill because everything she has dreamed for us has come true.
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