Ode To Joe

Two posts in one day...just got on a roll, thanks to a wonderful comment! Thank you!!!!

So..."Ode To Joe" was the half-time theme of the first Penn State football game we attended. My oldest was 15 yrs. old, and on that day she made her decision to attend PSU, and only PSU. The 400+ Blue Band came on the field, turned their backs to the home side and started to play "Ode to Joy". Then with perfect timing they turned, and hit us with a sound that sent chills through us. We still talk about that day!

Now to my "Ode to Joe"

My Joe can get on my nerves like no one else. He knows exactly how to pull my strings and get a reaction. He doesn't do this to hurt me. I have come to learn through 27 years of marriage that God gave this man to teach the impossible child in me the discipline and the determination that she wasn't taking from Him. Joe had to take over a dual role when I was mentally unable. He has refused to do certain tasks in the past despite my pouting, forcing me to take them on against my willful self. Whether he is willing to openly admit it, I will for him. At times he was a better Mom than me!


Joe is a big guy! He's been told he resembles the likes of heavy hitter Mark McGuire and the lead singer from Metallica. He once scared a gentle older woman at a local nursery buying flowers. All he did was turn slightly to see who was standing next to him..."you want these", she panicked, handing him her planter. Obviously she didn't know what I knew. Joe has his sweet side. He gets more excited for seed catalogs than I do!


Joe thought he could design a living room decor unlike any other. I agreed to paint it Caribbean orange to please his decorative side, then two weeks before Christmas I hurriedly sponged on various shades to mask. It was still hideous! I still consult him on color options, but at least now he lets me do the final pick. That's the story behind the weird wall! Yet, Joe gets teary-eyed every time he watches Extreme Home Makeover!
(hhhh...eldest just came in room while typing...her story of the weird wall is we BOTH didn't listen to her advice first)

I've seen Joe do needlepoint, make lovely bead bells and he makes a mean lasagna!

Joe wished he would of played professional baseball, he once got to pitch before the Pirate staff at Three Rivers. If he had made it, this little confirmation wouldn't be typed. We met after that summer dream fell flat. He never tried to make it in the minors after he met me. He is happy with what he got. (Pirates that is...I still irk him some days)

Joe doesn't always follow the game plan in finances. He opened a charge card two Christmas' ago to buy me an eternity pendant. I cried. It was the first Christmas gift between the two us for years. We had an agreement not to use charge cards, but for some reason that gift, on that Christmas Eve was perfect.


Joe is born Christmas Day. My name is Carol. hhhh...see where I am going with this...that makes me "Christmas Carol", too bad I can't sing a note in key.
Joe does love collecting Santas, Department 56 buildings and outdoor lighting stuff. I doubt Mark McGuire would spend a whole weekend planning, and organizing a front yard that glows a quarter mile away. Thank God for nice neighbors!
If Mr. McGuire does, bless his heart!


Joe wears his wedding ring on his middle finger. His ring finger got ripped off and sewn back on after a freak boating accident.
Joe was struck by lightening while golfing. You know the old saying lightening doesn't strike twice, well, one of his foursome got his second jolt that day. The bolt went to the cart and traveled through all four men. Each man had the burn marks to show. All walked away from it! Praise be to God!

Joe sometimes has a dirty mind...but only about me.
He chooses my company over the guys. Doesn't drink, well maybe one or two beers a month. Can't complain about that...so do I.
He doesn't dwell on stuff! Some guys have that gift! I'm getting better and better, learning from him.
Joe can't handle nagging...so I never perfected it! Another Thank God!
He hasn't time for fuss. So I have learned to accept myself as is. He still looks at me the way he did when I was 18! God, you do have me covered!


Finally, he isn't openly or should I say, verbally spiritual, that has it's bonuses. I have learned much from that fact about God's love and grace.
I realize we don't do together prayer time, except at dinner.
I realize many things about our relationship that don't fit the stereotype of a Christian marriage...yet I know for a fact that the things that have been expressed in moments of love, triumphs and trials could not have happened if God wasn't somehow, someway, blessing us because of the covenant we once made with Him.