Luggage problems

About 10 years ago Deb's Mom and Dad decided to take the whole family down to Riviera Mia in Mexico for a vacation.  We went around Christmas time. I have never been much of a beach guy but for some reason I decided on the first morning to locate a beach chair close to the ocean and as I was watching the waves roll in, I could not help but notice a problem that was taking place at the resort right next door to ours.  The patrons of this resort were noticeably of French or foreign decent.   It seemed that when they had packed their luggage that most of the women had packed the lower half of their bikinis in one suitcase and the upper half in the other and it was apparent that half of the luggage either got lost or had not shown up.  After about one hour of this observation Deb came down to the beach area and was quite amazed that I had been there for so long.  As she observed the surroundings she suggested that it was time for breakfast.  I said to her that we could order something special, breakfast on the beach, but soon thereafter I was holding her hand walking back to the resort and ordering scrambled eggs like any other married guy should do.

But even with all of this it was hard to forget an element of our dating life that has had a huge impact on our family. Deb does not talk about this all that much but she has been gifted by God with a musical talent that only the people closest to her know the full extent thereof.  When we were first married both of our sets of parents gave us the gift of a nice Baldwin piano that still sits in our living room today.  For countless hours Deb has fingered the keys of this instrument and she plays with a touch and a passion that will be remembered for an eternity.  I think she only had lessons till the sixth grade.  Whoever that teacher was should know, and I have always believed, that if Deb would have so chosen, she could have been successful in a  career of music.

For now I can recall being invited to Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor. I arrived expecting to to see a high school group performing a piece named 'Carmina Burana."  What I discovered when I arrived is that the person I now loved was doing her best to implant a grand piano in the stage of this place.  I am still not sure our living room floor is not down a couple of inches from all the piano playing that has taken place over these years.

In whatever happens in the the next months and years I will hear the ring of music in our home. The Piano, the trumpet, Mieke's voice and for sure the Piano played so well by the person that escorted me off of the beach occupied by a bunch of French women that had a luggage problem. I will say now that the music is better and for a guy like me and that says a lot.

I want next time to fast forward to my proposal.  It could not be messed up worse but it did work.  I will tell you about that.....In a couple of days. 


Stan the Man