Amazing Lisa

Little did my wife Lisa realize what her life would be like when I walked into it. We met 25 years ago this September in an anthropology class here at UM Flint. (The class was so pathetic, she was thinking of dropping it.) Anyway, I saw her at the first class session and thought she was cute. So I made up my mind to sit next to her for the next class and talk to her. We got to know each other in class for a couple of weeks, and then we went out on our first date. After dating for four years and being engaged for a year, we married in December of 1990.

Oddly enough, our first baby didn't come along for over two years. (Not for lack of trying.) She used to wonder why she wasn't getting pregnant. (She doesn't wonder about that now.) Ever since our first in 1993, they have kept on coming. She has been pregnant for 63 months of her life; that's over five years! (For the record, she has never experienced morning sickness even once!)

Having the babies is one thing; taking care of them is quite another. I couldn't begin to hazard a guess at how many diapers she has changed, loads of laundry she has washed and dried, or how many meals she has prepared. (Yes, I change diapers. No, I don't do laundry. I can cook if I have to.) On top of everything, she has always home schooled our kids. She didn't have to do all this. She earned a college degree in computers. She chose this life.

I asked Lisa once if she regretted her choices in life. After all, I don't think she foresaw all this. Would she have liked a career? Would she like to do smoothing else after the kids are grown? But she said that she is content with her life and that she can't think of anything else she would rather do. Now that's love.

I am glad she didn't drop the anthropology class.