Life can change in an instant

by Terri Wagner

Big changes are in store for my family and me. Not sure just yet how they will affect my blogging time, we will have to see. Over 15 years ago, my father divorced his second wife in what must have been the most amicable divorce of all time excepting Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. We were all a bit sad as we loved her, and felt their divorce was more about stepping up to take care of children/grandchildren than a lessening of affection for one another. They both had children from first marriages that were stumbling into dark places that took their time and efforts away from each other. I was much older when they married, and soon moved off to Virginia. So I really did not know my stepmom as well as my other siblings.

Fast forward 15 years, and you have a great grandchild without a responsible mom or dad, and absentee grandparents. Epitomizing their generation, my father and this wife are stepping up to the plate, remarrying, and adopting this three year old. They will move into the house dad and I have been living in for the past three years. I will be moving out to the trailer on the property. So my Internet access may be limited. We live in a spotty access area, with an only and at best third-rate provider. Getting access through a long-range router from the house to the trailer has never worked well. Suffice it to say, I may only have access when I walk on over to the "big" house, LOL.

It will be a culture shock for me. I've been taking care of dad for so long now, I just assumed it would end when he moved on the "big" house in the sky. I salute this 81 and 78 year old for stepping up to care for this beautiful little girl. I hope she remains a part of my life for many years to come.

I should probably add this is proof no one should give up on marriage. It does mean I will be freer in different ways than before, and limited in other ways. I am grateful we have been frugal (that's thanks to my dad more than me), and can afford to not only provide assistance, but have extra to decorate. Finally, a place of my own that I can decorate totally and only for me. Well not so fast, to make this transition as financially painless as possible, we settled for a small trailer without any custom additions. So I'm kinda stuck with light brown walls, brown fake wood floors, brown/blue countertops made I'm sure out of some sort of plastic. So my cream and blue beachy decor may have to wait until I again take possession of the "big" house.

It hasn't all happened yet, but by next year, I will be in really weird place I never saw coming. Not to mention the dogs. Wonder how they will take to the pack sorta breaking up as it were. Still I am really excited to see my dad happy. Wives provide a companionship a daughter just can't. I'm happy for her because she needed help building a future for her little great granddaughter. And again they are providing a sterling example of what family does and is.