Married Life

"So, how's married life?" Surprisingly, we've only had a handful of those questions. I guess most people can see it in our eyes and it answers the question before it's asked.


Soon after our return from North Carolina, our home turned into After Wedding Station with gifts and flowers and wedding arches and table cloths and... well, all the things from the wedding.

(Speaking of gifts, of all the ones at my parents' home, only one sender is"unknown." The gift actually had a card attached to it, but no name on the card! The gift ~ pretty wall sconces. We're hoping our parents will ask around, because I'd like to send out a Thank You card.)

Boxes were everywhere at our home, not to mention our suitcases still needed to be unpacked and the laundry was waiting. Oh, the joys of married life.

What we didn't count on was a phone call to our home at 3am the week we returned. It was the alarm company, calling to let me know that the fire detector went off at the office. I've worked for my father since I was 12 years old. The business is family owned and operated and is our livelihood. At 3am, it was the weirdest thing to get a phone call. I couldn't comprehend what the caller was saying and kept thinking, "But I'm in North Carolina, what can I do from here?" At the same time, Greg said he was dreaming about being at the Biltmore Estates in N. Carolina. It didn't register for me until I turned the light on.

Greg was dressed faster than I was. I didn't have to ask if he would come with me. We were together, facing this, whatever it the outcome. I called Dad to let him know about the alarm company and told him we were on our way to the office. What normally would take anywhere from 10-15 minutes to drive, Greg did in 3. We chanced the red lights, after making sure nobody was coming. Greg looked at me and said, "Are you crying?" I replied, "No, I have to see the damage first."

As we pulled into the parking lot, we saw the fire truck, but no smoke. I was out of Greg's vehicle and at the front office door before the firemen could come up to us. I had it unlocked and opened and walked in ~ yes, it was stupid, I should have let the fireman go first, but it was my work, my father's work, the employee's work. I had to be sure everything was Ok.

The fire alarm was tripped in the kitchen. The hot spot water cooler went caput. Maybe it let out some smoke as it fried; it certainly left a bad odor. The fireman used some type of equipment to determine it was the culprit ~ thankfully, it didn't do any damage! Office was safe and sound.


This wasn't the way we wanted to start off our return, but it sure showed me how Greg was by my side in a flash and without questions asked. (Not that I ever questioned this, but it was action in motion. Plenty of people can say stuff, but never follow through when it comes down to a time in need. Greg was there for me, with me, not only in words, but in his actions. Ok, I'm repeating myself, I know, but it holds a lot of meaning...)


Now, to a "good deed" of the week ~ Greg called me at the office and said, "Aleta, don't open the garage door when you come home." Greg came home and saw a man and boy walking. Two dogs (black labs, one was an adult, the other was about half the size, pup) were behind the man. As they walked by our house, the pup ran into the street and a car just missed the dog by inches! Greg called out to the pup and it came to him, then ran into our backyard!

Greg called out to the man, "Your dog is in my backyard." The man replied, "They aren't my dogs. You can have them. They've been following me." And he kept on walking.

I came home to find Greg in the backyard playing with these two dogs, having already given them food and water. They were well behaved dogs and obviously belonged to someone, but they had no tags. The dogs knew commands such as "sit" "lay down" and were sweet natured. (Though Tigger was not up to finding out if they liked cats or not!)

Greg was already underway to make a sign "Found Two Dogs." Not only did he make the sign, but being it was getting dark outside, he put a flood light and a blinking light on the sign to catch the attention of drivers. We hoped the owners would be out and about, looking for their lost family members.

In the meantime, we made plans to put the labs in our office area for the night, because we couldn't leave them outside. We were expecting a light freeze over night. Just as Greg was getting ready to leave and see if there were any "lost dogs" signs in the neighborhood, we heard our door bell. It was the owner. He was able to describe the dogs, what type, the height and when we showed him the dogs, they knew him. The man saw our sign outside and was relieved! We were thrilled to unite owner and pets.