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"Fate"
I recently received an email, one of
those forwards that someone is always sending, that dealt with fate…it
was all about how people who worked at the Twin Towers had different
circumstances occur that morning that kept them from getting to work on
time. Such as, a child who spilled juice on their clothes and caused
the parent to be late, the guy who missed the bus, the alarm clock that
didn’t go off, etc…anyway, it caused all of these people to be late for
work and therefore, still alive to tell about it. What they had
considered to be a nuisance actually saved their lives.
I am a big believer in fate. Just the other day, Alex and Ann were
planning to move all their belongings up to Wahpeton, ND where they are
going to school. They had spent several days out in Sturgis and found
out at the last minute that if they wanted to move in on Sunday, they
had to be there by 1:00. Alex got home on Saturday night and ran around
like a bat out of hell to get the trailer pressure washed. (He was
taking the cattle trailer and it was full of cow crap, for some reason
he thought it needed to be cleaned out before putting his belongings
inside.) At nearly midnight he was furiously packing his things into
boxes, trying not to forget anything. He set his alarm for 5:30 AM and
fell asleep. The next morning, Dick and I were up at 7 and wondered why
Alex wasn’t getting up but figured he wanted to rest up. At 8:00 a
swearing, angry Alex came tearing downstairs. He had slept right
through his alarm and now would never make it on time. All of us began
loading the trailer and he tore off out of the yard on his way to pick
Ann up. Ten minutes later, he called. The pickup lights came on
indicating no oil pressure. Ann’s parents had a pickup, but the tires
were bad, so they had to give up completely on going to ND on Sunday.
They were bummed about it, but I insisted that there was a reason they
weren’t supposed to go. I didn’t know what it was, but with all that
going against them, it was obvious…they weren’t meant to go that day.
As a result, Alex stayed home and helped me move heavy furniture over to
our new house. (Maybe THAT was the reason!) They went on Wednesday,
instead and had no troubles.
It just goes to show that sometimes, the things we think are terrible
are really good. Which leads me to the real subject of my column. A
couple of weeks ago I was down in Vermillion, visiting at Jordan’s house
and I can’t remember exactly what we were talking about, but it must
have been pertaining to Peyton starting Kindergarten next year. Calvin
said that he could have gone to school a year earlier than he did, but
his mom decided to wait until the following year. And it wasn’t because
he was dumb, in fact he’s incredibly smart, just for the record. “Just
think”, he said. “If I had gone to school a year earlier, none of us
would be standing here right now.” And it’s true. If Calvin had been a
year older, he wouldn’t have been attending the Upward Bound program at
USD the summer of ’03 and he never would have met Jordan. She was
there attending Girls State and happened to meet Calvin (who I think was
playing cards in the hallway near where all the girls were attending a
banquet, just hoping to meet somebody). As fate would have it, that
somebody turned out to be Jordan. They corresponded for several months
before actually getting together in person, and getting together they
did, indeed. Which is how Jordan ended up having to tell us that she
was pregnant in her senior year in high school. Naturally, we were
really upset…who wouldn’t be, but both Jordan and Calvin managed to
finish their senior years, Calvin as Salutatorian at White River, Jordan
on the 4.0 which I commend them both for.
Peyton was born in June that year and they had to rethink their college
plans. Jordan wouldn’t be going to major in music at Concordia and
Calvin wouldn’t be studying to be game warden in Idaho…they had to
compromise and go to USD in Vermillion instead.
We were talking the other day about weddings and how much money people
waste on things that they think are so important. Jordan and Calvin got
married the easy way. She called me up one day while I was still
delivering the mail. She informed me that they had decided to get
married. “Oh?” I said…”When?” “At 4:00” was her reply. It was so
funny because I was expecting her to say, maybe next spring or at
Christmas, but not 4:00. But that’s what they did. They went to the
justice of the peace and spent $40 on the ceremony.
Of course we worried about whether or not they would be able to make
it. Taking care of a baby isn’t easy in the best of times, and here you
had two 18 year old kids, going to college and trying to keep house and
take care of a baby, but my hat is off to them. They have done a great
job with raising Peyton and now her little sister, Emerson. Both have
gotten good grades, juggled getting kids to daycare and making it to
class on time, keeping the apartment reasonably clean, and dealing with
two little girls. Calvin is close to getting his master’s degree and
starting on his teaching career, Jordan has one year of nursing school
left and has a successful photography business taking off and they are
doing pretty well.
Which leads me back
to fate…we thought Jordan’s life was really messed up, but out of chaos,
came two sweet little girls who I wouldn’t trade for all the money in
the world. They will be celebrating anniversary #4 on Sunday, September
2, so here’s wishing them many more years of wedded bliss. Four years
may not sound like much, but compared to a Hollywood wedding, it’s an
eternity!
So, the next time
something crappy happens to you…maybe you get fired or someone breaks up
with you, just remember...there’s a reason for everything and something
good is just around the corner…HAPPY ANNIVERSARY JORDAN AND CALVIN!
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