I'll Call It Like I See It

by sheila morris

Tag: anniversaries

  • my motivation is tomorrow

    my motivation is tomorrow


    I am celebrating two twenty-three year anniversaries in 2024: the first and most important one will be on a specific day in February (the 9th.) because that was the day my life with Pretty began; the second anniversary has no specific date, but 2001 was also the year Rafa Nadal became a professional tennis player who captured my admiration and affection throughout his lengthy career. I admit to shedding a few tears this morning as I watched him wave to the crowds in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia following his 3-set loss to Australian Jordan Thompson in the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International tournament which I expect he knew was his last hurrah with the crowds in the stands there.

    The New Indian Express June 03, 2017

    Nadal’s passion for perfection in the game of tennis has been a thrilling journey that has entertained millions of fans around the world. His humility regardless of outcomes in the battles on the tennis courts has been a unique indication of the character that makes him a role model for professional athletes in any sport.

    Just one day at a time, right? Rafa, Pretty and I have been together for nearly a third of my life, and I will miss watching the dynamic Spanish tennis player whose motivation has always been to make tomorrow better with the illusion he was going to get better that day. I believe Pretty and I will continue to share his dream one day at a time with each passing year we are fortunate enough to be together.

    All of us can make 2024 a better tomorrow if we meet each day with an expectation that there is an opportunity, there is the possibility of doing better than we did the day before.

    I will close with the words I’ve heard Rafa say countless times during the on court interviews following his wins in a match, “thank you, thank you very much.”

  • this year really is 19


    Nineteen, I argued with Pretty last year, when we were out with our friends Francie and Nekki having dinner to celebrate our anniversary date: February 09th. Pretty shook her head so I persisted with well, we got together February 09, 2001, so that makes 2019 our nineteenth anniversary. At the moment I said those words, I knew I was wrong. Me, the math person in our family, had missed that number which any fool could see was eighteen.

    So now I again say nineteen in 2020, and I feel confident I’m right.

    February 09, 2001 – Cancun, Mexico

    I look at this picture, see those smiling younger women having dinner at a restaurant in Mexico, and wonder if they had any inkling of the journey they started that weekend.  I think journeys weren’t even in their minds. I was trying so hard to impress Pretty I boldly poured the hottest salsa on my tacos which produced a heat surge not unlike a hot flash. I almost fainted.

    Pretty on the other hand did as she has done for nineteeen years of my trying to impress her. She laughed. That laughter has sustained us through the roller coaster rides life brings to everyone who risks the journey.

    Today we were driving to retrieve our pickup that was in the Dodge shop having airbags replaced. Our conversation focused on my cell phone which Pretty has disparaged from the time I purchased it a few months ago, a phone which I still can’t use properly. I told Pretty the problem was now compounded because I have lost the vision in my left eye (I’ll have laser surgery to correct shortly). Pretty who has an iPhone said, you have a funky phone because you refuse to pay for a good one. How could she help me if I didn’t have an iPhone. Point taken. Give me 48 hours to think about it. I love the 48 hours trick.

    Conversation topics change over the course of a marriage, but for us Mexican food is still a comfort meal. I go easier on the salsa caliente, though.

    Elizabeth Barrett Browning makes me wish I were a poet. “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach when feeling out of sight for the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day’s most quiet need by sun and candlelight. I love thee freely, as men strive for right. I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion put to use in my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose with my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears of all my life; and if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.”

    I love thee, Pretty.

    Stay tuned.

     

     

     

  • which anniversary is this? better ask Pretty


    fun with friends at DeBordieu, 2007

    So Pretty and I are having dinner with our friends Nekki and Francie after the South Carolina women’s basketball game last night, and the conversation turned to our anniversary which is this Saturday, February 9th. I had invited them to go to dinner with us on our anniversary but that wasn’t working out so we opted to eat after the game.

    Nekki asked what everyone always asks about anniversaries – how many years are you celebrating?

    Nineteen, I answered quickly because I am the numbers person in our family who keeps up with birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, graduations, etc. Every family has a designated scorekeeper, and in our family I am known as the go-to person for important dates. Pretty is generally unreliable in these areas.

    Oh, Nekki said, nineteen years is really great. Pretty and I both nodded, although I noticed Pretty displayed a hint of eyes rolling at my answer. Then she said, no, it’s not nineteen, it’s eighteen to which I responded no I specifically remember the year was 2001 when we got together so anyone could plainly see our anniversary was definitely for nineteen years. Case closed, I added for emphasis.

    For those of you who can do “high math,” I will let you do the numbers or you don’t really need to bother because February 09, 2019 is our 18th. anniversary, and don’t you forget it. Please enjoy a few highlights of the past “on the road to nineteen” with us.

    family civil rights tour – Alabama, 2018

      SC women’s national championship, Dallas – 2017

    Number One Son Drew’s rehearsal dinner – 2015

    South Carolina Pride – 2016

    signing copies of Committed to Home at Francis Marion – 2018

    OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

    the hideout, Wyoming, 2009

    in the beginning, Cancun, February 09, 2001

    family vacation – Gettysburg, 2012

    Valentine’s Day Poinsett Bridge with family – 2015

    Texas, 2013

    Happy Anniversary, Pretty – how do I love thee? I can’t begin to count the ways…or the years evidently…but my love will always belong to you. Thank you for every day. Case closed.

    Stay tuned.