Don — Page 118

Cottage, Leaves & The Cubs

October 20, 2016 at 9:52 am by Claudia

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Gosh, I love this photo!

And I love our house. Yes, there’s not a day that goes by where I’m not muttering about the lack of storage space or wishing we had a mud room or another bedroom or a garage; but when I see the light pouring through the windows and the wood floors and the colors and our favorite things, I smile.

I’d like a new sofa and chair for the den. The floors, after 11 years of playful dogs, need refinishing. All the walls need repainting, which I have been successfully avoiding for about three years because I hate painting. I’d like a dishwasher that works. A vintage stove.

These are all wants, however, not needs. The truth is, it’s just fine here as it is. It’s our haven. It’s got a lot of personality, color, quirkiness, and vintage. Dare I say that’s a good description of Don and me? Even down to vintage?

Ahem.

For those of you who don’t use Instagram, this photo has become quite popular:

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We were raking leaves, which is a big job around here. We rake them onto a tarp, carry the tarp over to the edge of the woods and dump them.

Don decided to fall backwards into the leaves. Twice.

I have to say he made me laugh out loud, that scamp!

I didn’t watch the debate last night. Instead, we watched the Cubs vs. Dodgers game. But I followed along on both Huffington Post and Daily Kos. Both sites were live blogging the debates. So I knew what was going on and read choice excerpts to Don while we watched the Cubs stage a comeback.

I sort of like ‘watching’ a debate that way; at least, during this election cycle. I simply can’t stand to hear his voice or watch him anymore. Good to know, however, that there continues to be no depth to which he isn’t willing to go. Good to know.

Remember, we evicted him from our heads as of yesterday.

Happy Thursday.

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Celebrating Eighteen

October 12, 2016 at 8:53 am by Claudia

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We’re celebrating 18 years of marriage today.

I was blessed the day I met Don. Blessed and transformed. Transformed from a woman who was afraid of commitment, hesitant to give up her independence because surely that must be the toll taken when one marries, to a woman who realized, thankfully, that a healthy relationship only makes things better. Independence isn’t lost, it’s enhanced. When someone loves you unselfishly, you’re encouraged to fly.

And that’s the heart of our marriage. We encourage each other to fly, to be the best we can be, all the while knowing that we will be there for each other no matter what. A healthy and whole love doesn’t come with chains. It sets us free.

To Don:

Thank you, dear love, for the years of love and cuddles and wisdom and silliness. Thank you for your constant support, your listening ear. Thank you for music and food and long talks and laughter. Oh, thank you so much for the laughter! Thank you for being a wonderful dad to our beloved dogs, for being a wonderful son-in-law to my parents and brother to my sister. We lost our brother many years ago and Meredith needs a brother. You are that to her.

Thank you for being the finest man I have ever known, always working to be a better person, always kind, always compassionate, always quick to say I’m sorry, always a beautiful human being.

Thank you for putting up with me on those days I’m worried or scared or insecure or harried or short-tempered. Thank you for never judging, always accepting. Thank you for helping me to be a better person.

We’ve gone through a lot together, you and I. We’ve lost your father, our beloved dogs, my father and mother, and we’ve mourned the loss of friends and mentors. We’ve moved across the country, with very little in our bank account, just the hope and dream of a new life.

Life is an adventure. You’ve said that many times. Here’s to more adventures, dearest one.

Happy Wednesday,

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I Found It

September 18, 2016 at 9:39 am by Claudia

Yesterday found me searching for a copy of an old contract, which I ended up not finding. That search took me to my file cabinet in the office, long ignored, and I tossed tons of paper, documents, and old files that are no longer needed – that kind of thing.

But I did find something I’ve been searching for. I probably should wait to post this until our official anniversary, which is October 12th, but what the heck!

A photo of Don and me on the day we met, during our very first conversation:

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There is Don, with an impressive tan (he’d just finished working on a play in Arizona). There’s the shirt he has worn on each consecutive July 4th, and only on July 4th.

We’d spent the day at our friend Kathy’s house at the beach. At this point in the day, it had become much cooler outside, so I threw on my BU sweatshirt. I’m not sure what’s on my jeans – looks like paint. That’s my dear friend Rick next to me. We worked together at BU, were hired at the same time to work in San Diego, and he still heads up the MFA program there. (We both found the loves of our lives right around the same time. Isn’t that lovely?)

There’s the photo date stamp in the lower right hand corner.

I didn’t know this photo existed until about 5 years later, when Jonathan McMurtry, a wonderful actor that we’ve known for years, put it in an envelope and left it in my mailbox at the Globe. Needless to say, we were thrilled that we had some documentation of the day that quite literally changed our lives.

Gosh, I was skinny in those days!

We’d been having a conversation about the fact that we were now in our forties and we couldn’t believe we were that old.

Oh, Don and Claudia! Now you look at this photo and think how young you were!

I’ll share it again on our anniversary. Promise.

Nancy asked for a photo of the zinnias. Here’s one. I’ll take more.

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Today I counted 13 morning glory blooms. It’s a rainy Sunday, so I didn’t take a picture of them, but I do have more to share with you over the coming days.

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Like this one.

We took a trail walk yesterday, where we saw our old friends munching on their dinner.

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They’re shy. When they saw me, they turned their heads away from me. One of them is the mother, the other is the son. Aren’t they beautiful?

Rest in Peace to the great Edward Albee, a playwright who had an enormous influence on a young actress finding her way in the world of theater. I acted in his plays, I loved his words. I heard him speak during my time in Philadelphia and I’ll never forget that day. Bravo.

Happy Sunday.

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Cottage, Leaves & The Cubs

Celebrating Eighteen

I Found It

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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