The Call

At 7pm on a cold winter night the phone rang and interrupted me from scanning between the "Family Guy" and a version of "Dirty Jobs" dealing with earthworm harvesting. I'd just got home from a long day teaching skiing in Arctic temps., leaving me with nothing left. Dropping the phone in the bed, I viewed the callers name in the dimly lit window, "Bridget". One hundred percent of the time I would have let the call go to Voice mail, seeing her name made me smile as I pressed the answer key, unknown to the news I was about to receive.

I hadn't heard from her in almost a month, thirty days since a wonderful evening leading to not much TV watching, If you know what I mean. We spent two wonderful days together and back she went to a world I knew nothing about in the land of plenty, Silicon Valley, Spin Classes, Body Pump and the Computer High tech whirl wind. Our history dated back for maybe three years darting in and out of each others lives, mostly at Bridget's convince. It was always wonderful to see her and spend short time, but our earlier past left us both distant. Something, something continued to draw the two of us together just like the first time I viewed her from across a local restaurant bar while waiting for dinner. Twenty-five minutes later I directed myself straight to her table, excused myself and invited her to go skiing the next day, to my surprise she showed up with bells on. Our story had begun.

Opening our book to page one, meant falling for Bridget the instant my eyes fell on her, she on the other hand didn't know to make heads or tails of some guy staring at her through the mayhem of a busy restaurant Bar. Then like speeding down the road in a car, she was there, then looking again, not.

It seems from that moment on was the format for our relationship. Something opening the door to let us in together, then the forces of nature moving us apart. Different people, different cultures, different ideas and the difference in age. Things in our melting pot that not only drove us together, made it hard to be together. The glue? Passion. Simple, downright, awesome passion. A Passion we read about while curled up in our favorite blanket, seen on the big screen with a tear forming in the corner of your eye and a slight shake of you head. Passion driven by two different people, one falling because of the passion the other filling a need for the passion. Both in the beginning filled their needs and the boat sailed, but "Red skies at night, sailors delight, Red skies in the morning, sailors take warning". Thorough everyday life clouds where on the horizon. Take warning.

Bridget was everything I never had the wonderful opportunity to have or known in a woman. Exceptionally smart, traveled, well read, true opinions, with the knowledge to build a case on the subjects she chose to pick her battles around. Work ethics comparable to a driven team of field horses but with the ability to use her gift of years of schooling to her advantage through knowledge to oil the machine of the High Tech World building a network of friends and colleagues, second to none. She fueled the machine with proper food, educated herself on the ways of the Green World daily, integrating what she could into the daily pie of her life. Impressive, all very impressive. Even more impressive was the volume of like peers she surrounded herself with, groups of different people with every background one could imagine. Occupations, culture, Martial status, recreational soul saving, health and fitness of the YMCA, and not to forget her coffee club, a club I'm finding is very popular within the circle of women, the chance to talk and unwind and share. Something most men wouldn't even consider. She liked to be Busy! She enjoyed waking up, checking her email, connecting, scheduling and living each day full and with meaning, as it should be.

Oops little miss Quinn is getting hungry! Be back later....

On the other hand you have me, Karpy, worked hard, skied hard, traveled when I wanted, sailed when I wanted, nothing or anybody to hold me to anything...a soccer player at heart that learned how to ski along the way. Until a few years ago I used books to weight down my tip money from blowing away. Since then I've realized you can open and read them. Enjoyed the many wonders of the outdoors, all of them. And have been blessed to know and share the splendor of an amazing run of time with great, warm, loving, people and the most amazing creature I've spend time with, Beau my Golden of 17 years. My heart still aches with each day.

There's a bunch more, not that I'm thinking about that just now as I'm listening to Bridget on the phone fighting to keep my eyes from closing. Turning down the volume on the Mike Rowe and his Dirty Jobs, just as he is watching the Northern Maine Earthworm mate, and gathering my pillows to settle into a nice long conversation. In a nervous sort of voice, Bridget, like she was stepping up to the plate in the last inning of the world series with the score all tied up..."Steve I have something to tell ya". It seems I woke up fairly quickly and my attention drifted to fight or flight mode rather quickly. Pause.....pause and here it came and nine months a one day later Little Miss Quinn popped out after 35 hours of amazing labor. Looked into her mothers eyes as if looking into the brightest star in the sky, I stepped back in awe, ready or not, my life just changed, because of the baby, because of Bridget, Because I sold my Colorado world away, because I moved to a place I knew nothing about, because I left my friends and wonderful employment, because I left everything I knew about me, because I just helped delivery

my daughter, but, because I met Bridget three years earlier for a reason, the reason lay in

Bridget's arms, warm, small, bruised, and crazy beautiful. Quinn my daugther...my little girl.

I will never look at Bridget the same again, never so proud of anybody, never so proud of her. My eyes began to tear, it was over Quinn and my Bridget are both safe, I walked her to the nursery and pushed the famed El Camino Hospitals lullaby button. Once pressed the entire hospital played the song that let everyone else know,

my life just changed!