Along for the ride ...

In a recent conversation with a dear person who knows my pain, I was asked to describe the perfect "Bill and Ginette" vacation.  Without hesitation, I described the vacation Bill and I had planned for the celebration of our 25 year anniversary.  It was simple.  We were to go to Montreal to take in a ballet and a football game.  For some, this would almost seem like a compromise for both of us ... he the ballet and I the football game.  However, there was no compromising for we both love the arts such as the Canadian Tenors, Sarah Brightman, and the Cirque du Soleil.  We had seen the Canadian Tenors in concert twice, hosted our own private DVD concerts with Sarah on many Friday nights and had hoped to see her and the Cirque du Soleil on a real stage some day.  Bill was open to experiencing something new - the ballet. 

The CFL is a way of life at the Walton's.  I have been a fan of the Alouette's since 1977 and he a fan of the Argonauts since about the same time.  For four months of the year, Friday night football came with pizza and beer and Sunday afternoon we were in shutdown mode watching another game while eating peanuts and washing them down with another cold beer.  The season culminated with a small Grey Cup party of sorts with my sister and brother-in-law and a couple of years with my parents in attendance.  We watched while holding a hot bowl of chilli, cheering our favourite team on.  I often saw my Alouette's in action - Bill not so much for his Argonauts, much like his beloved Maple Leafs, did not make it to the playoffs often!  *snicker*

After describing a weekend in Montreal, attending the ballet, taking in a game where the Alouette's and the Argonauts were scheduled to play against each other and roaming my favourite sites of Montreal, this person asked - in five years from now, what would Bill and I remember of this vacation.  I hesitated; not sure of where this was going.  I assumed and said that we would speak of the time spent "together" as a couple.  Time away from home, away from thinking of our responsibilities as parents, away from the bills, away from everything; it was a time to reconnect as Bill and Ginette.  Ah ... these are things we share and continue to share.  He is with me and I with him in all that we share.  We continue to be one.  There is no torn picture.

As I sit with my journal this morning, I flip through the pages and realize that I have been sharing with Bill all along.  Our conversations are recorded on each page.

P.S.

I dedicated this song to Bill at our first concert.  We held hands and I leaned into him ... pure love!  Bill was touched by the words this song offers and that I thought of him in this way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zDkVjvwI7w&feature=fvwrel

The volume always went up with this as did the hair on the back of our neck ... pure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_jD8eE_ktQ&feature=related