I think enough time has gone by and chances are you won’t see this anyways but…..
I gotta tell ya somethin’, first husband.

Remember the first year in our new house?
The living room had a huge high ceiling and was still empty of furniture so I wanted a TALL Christmas tree in there…..right in the middle of the room, high up to the ceiling?
Remember?

Sooo, the six of us went out tree shopping and found the perfect tree.
We happily, excitedly brought it home.
That baby was BIG!

That evening, after dinner my brother and his family joined us, we put on Christmas music and the excitement began.

The big, tall tree was put in the stand then upright it went ….right up to the ceiling.

The six little kids clapped and screamed and danced around the tree.

Remember?

And the six little kids got louder and louder and louder and ran around the tree AND the ladder you were climbing to put the star on top?

And the noise and commotion got too much for you, remember?

I could see things were kinda getting out of control for you so I called you down off the ladder and gave you a nice cold beer…..remember that beer?

Well…..I put a 5 mg Valium in that beer!

I did!

Then we all sat around for a bit and just talked.

When I saw you reaching “mellow”, I suggested you get back up on that ladder and YES I was a little bit worried you’d be so relaxed you’d fall off but hey….that star needed to get up on top that tree!

Up you went.

NOTHING was bothering you, you were the definition of RELAXED. Something we didn’t often see in you, Mr Always-Up-Tight.

Not only did that star get up on top that tree but it was YOU who encouraged ALL of us to join hands and dance around the tree.

One Valium in a beer, that’s all it took!

And, do you remember the beer you had just before you climbed up on the ladder a few nights later to shake the Jingle Bells up on the roof while I told the girls to hurry and close their eyes that Santa was near?

Yep, another Valium Beer.

That’s the only two times I did that, I promise but…..there was other stuff!