Into the Blender

2011-03-05T16:45:00.001-08:00

In the summer of 2009, I felt like a guy.

I don't mean that I was gay or considering one of those surgeries that will get you your own show on the Discovery Health channel these days. No. In 2009, I had been a divorced, single mom for three years, and I had finally emegered from an emotionally destructive on and off relationship with the most indecisive man in the world. I was soured on men, had lost interest in the online dating sites, and found myself gratuitously dating a gorgeous younger guy that I cared not a lick for. After years of the up and down rollercoaster of divorce and grief and dating and blah, blah, blah, I was bored with the whole damned process and felt detached, emotionless, and disinterested. In my opinion, I thought that was how men felt about relationships.

One night, while scanning through the endless lists of questionable male choices on Match.com, I happened to wink at an older man with a great smile and a puzzling user id, "Footie-G". His profile proclaimed that he was "Looking for a Sane Woman". Oooh, I thought...bitter. Nontheless, his occupation was in education, and he was one of approximately five single men between the ages of 35-50 in the middle Georgia area with a graduate degree. So, I figured, what the hell?

Grant was bitter. Grant still sometimes is bitter. Sometimes I am too, but divorce will do that to you. We understood each other, and the rest, as they say, is history. When he proposed, his divorce had only really been final for a few weeks. I would have been crazy to accept an offer like that, right? Probably. Late one night, he went into his closet and came back with something hidden in his hand. I honestly don't remember exactly what he said; I was stunned. I do remember the words that made such an impact on me though. The ring he gave me had three diamonds, and he began to explain..., "The reason it has three diamonds is because..." and I didn't let him finish. I knew why it had three diamonds. He had two children from his previous marriage, and I had one son from mine. Undoubtedly, these children were...are...the jewels in our lives, and I knew that Grant wanted to make them a family. Probably crazy, but I threw my arms around him, and I cried (just like a girl). At that moment, we were no longer single parents. We were about to undertake one of the most Herculean tasks known to mankind...blending families. We are quickly approaching our first anniversary, and this year has presented us with so many challenges to our children, our finances, our marriage, and our faith, we knew that we had to share what we have learned with other families trying to survive as they jump into the the unforgiving fury of the blender.

Blender Sanity

Into the Blender