Was there a sign up sheet I missed?

When I was 16 years old, I had a strong desire to be financially independent if not (and this was my true hope) filthy, stinking rich. I had illusions of bachelor pads on the North side of Chicago - I decided it would be off the 157, a nice car and my only worries would be those at my magnificent job that others would beat up small animals for. Now at 16, who doesn't have this ambition? But at 18 I made the plan to do it and at 22 I caught a glimpse of plausibility, I actually watched the chance unfold before me.

Then I met a girl, and she screwed everything up!

Now I am sitting in an apartment next to my space heater (darn right; I am not turning on that furnace unless Dennis Quaid shows up and tells me to head to Mexico) typing on blogger. Actually I am more pecking than typing because the aforementioned girl is sleeping on my other arm and I have lost all feeling in my fingers.

My life hasn't exactly turned out the way I envisioned at 16, but I realized tonight that it is exactly how it should have unfolded. I have something now that I hadn't penciled into the earlier plan, I found someone who will fall asleep in my arms and put my hand to sleep, someone that will read my blog and tell me that the post on Constituency did make sense and was not just a slew of incomprehensible ramblings from a wanna be writer, I found someone that gave up her life to become a part of mine. She has quickly become the most important thing in my life and right now, my only purpose is to make sure that she never feels that she is not special. The happiness I could have had living as a wealthy bachelor in Chicago is nothing compared to how complete I feel when she smiles (although she is usually smiling when she sees a baby - and that brings a whole new busload of troubles!). She is my life, and I couldn't have planned it better.

So, for now it is just me, the sleeping wonder, and the space heater; Forming new plans to change the world and make a difference in the world. Or to make babies, which ever comes first.


And somewhere down the road we will be filthy, stinking rich.