When we first met, we were both recently married, neither of us yet had children. We seemed almost opposite -- I had lived a very conservative, religious life, and Bev had lived -- well, a not very conservative life. Over the years, I had two sons, she had two daughters. Both those marriages ended, and we had a succession of other loves, likes and lusts, as well as one additional husband apiece. At various times both of us have been single parents, both of us have been on some form of public assistance, and both of us eventually bought homes and built careers and raised our kids into more or less responsible adults.
So I got here on Saturday night, on this relatively impromptu trip, and the two of us sat up for hours. In fact, I don't believe we went to bed until nearly 6 am. And...there was some drinking. There was a bottle of wine, first, and Bev doesn't care much for wine so I had most of that to myself. Which is much more than I usually drink. But we weren't done -- there was a full bottle of brandy, which by morning was only a half bottle of brandy. (It's a big bottle too!) I'm not exactly sure I remember the entire night, and the next morning I had my very first ever full-on hangover. Bev's poor daughter (who is 20-something) got up several times to ask us to be quiet and stop laughing so loud, so that she could get some sleep. And, we tried. We really did. But, it was no use. (Sorry Cat.)
It was one of the best nights of my entire life.
Many people in later life recall their misspent youth. I was serious and responsible in my youth, and have often said that I was therefore entitled to a misspent middle age. I believe this was an excellent beginning.
