We call him Eusebio if he's bad (long story) and we call him Ignacio when it's bath time. There is a saying in spanish "a bañarse Nacho," which means "go take a bath Nacho." Nacho is the generic nickname for anyone who is named Ignacio. I really shouldn't do that since it's a dead giveaway that it's bath time!

You were the first one to welcome me to YT. It's nice to know more about you with your user name. (:

I still love this thread - glad it got bumped back up! :)

How did I miss this thread?
 

I am only on page 10 of this interesting reading and the 2 loves of my life, my DH and Furbaby are in bed waiting for me to join them. I will finish manana and will post about myself. Great Thread. Thanks for starting it!

Well, thank you. :)

Hello
My name is Shinja…. It is Japanese for Believer. I am not Japanese –100% southern American!! My mother (from southwest Virginia – family roots for 200 years) did not want to name her daughter a “normal” southern name, my dad was out of the country soooooo :rolleyes: I think having such and unusual name shaped my personality a bit :cool:
My Father was a merchant marine – First Class Purser on the SS United States and when he retired we were going to move to CA.. h was murdered while working in Yellow Stone National Park. It was an event that changed my family. My Mother died of breast cancer at the age of 68… my girls really don’t remember her too much which is sad.:(
I grew up 50% in Florida and 50% in Virginia/Tennessee. I moved back to Florida after college (East Tennessee State University) and settled in the Sarasota area. I am (was) a small town girl and did not like big cities. Met my dh got married..had a baby and then he moved me to MIAMI (small town girl in Miami :eek:) Had baby #2… finally got employment in the School systems as a Home Economics teacher. My first teaching position was in an inter-city school. That was sure an eye opener!! :eek:I loved my students, but it was a long drive and I was robbed at gun point going to lunch so I requested a transfer. I was there for 7 years, transferred to another High School that was very Hispanic – learned more cultural and then trans to where I am now. I have been in the DCPS for 24 years.
I have two daughters.. they now live in Chicago. I can’t believe my children don’t live near me.. and not in the south!! But they are happy. I was the typical soccer mom.. Cheerleading, piano, tumbling, softball, 12 years of Girl Scouts (I was the leader of the troop) so the girls were my life. Teen aged year were a bit rough but now they are like my best friends.
We got our first dog – a pom about 12 years ago. Then we got Sammy…a Lhasa alpso about 7 years past. I did not have dogs growing up so it has been a learning process. When I brought Sebastian home I did not ask or tell my dh.. I thought he would not notice. Hmmmm it did cause a lot of problems. Latter my dd wanted a dog because she felt sad about a boyfriend break up (she wasn’t living at home at the time) so she got a shih tuz—well they each got one. I had to keep one but she died (very sad story) and then dd couldn’t take care of Bailey so… he’s mine.
The girls moved away… my dh was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma two years ago this June. It is a very serious form of blood cancer.. Dh is one of the lucky ones who the med do control it and he is doing well. The first thing I read on my trustee laptop in the hospitable is the life expected was 18 months.. omg.. but in the last 5 years that has changed and now it could be10-15 years and by then who knows??
This has been a very emotional struggle, and financially we are struggling because it is a very expensive illness. But .. I have a solid job and he is doing well and the girls are happy… what more can you ask for???
Remy is my empty nest baby… I would have more if I had the time and could justify the cost :rolleyes: But three is enough.. even if they are all not Yorkies. Btw… I just brought her home, did not tell dh I was getting her, he is used to it now. I was afraid but I think it is better to ask forgiveness than permission :D
I love to create.. so I like to cook, sew, quilt etc.
I also love to read… it is my drug of choice. Without the escape of reading I don’t know what I would have done through Alan’s illness and the girls leaving. I have a wii system and like to play games.
I love having friends over for dinner.. only my dh loves his wine a bit much for my taste ;(
All in all… I am lucky and life goes on! Oh I am 56 years old.

It's all about me
 

I am Brandy’s mom. Her full name is Little Brandy Madison. She is the light of my life. I had no idea I could love a dog so much. I always had one, but they were medium sized and always outside, so I really didn’t have much to do with them. Brandy is always at my side, or my husbands, and yes, she sleeps on our bed and I do let her lick my face, something I swore would never happen. Oh yeah, this is supposed to be about me.
I am 52 years old and have been married to my 51 year old husband for 49 years. Honestly, no typo. I have a 30 year old daughter and 28 year old son. My husband and I owned a residential construction company in Olympia, Washington. We got out 1 house too late, and took a pretty big hit on that one, but consider ourselves very lucky. We own a 450 square foot studio condo in Cancun, Mexico, which we now rent. Three years ago, we lived there for 1 year and loved every minute of it. We didn’t have a car, so took the public bus everywhere. Cancun is still one of my favorite places on earth, really amazing water and beach. I now live in a condo overlooking the Sea of Cortez in a small Mexican town, San Felipe on the Baja California, Mexico. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. Every morning I wake up to sun and a beautiful view. My husband is happily retired. I have been a travel agent for 12 years and am so lucky to be able to still do my job while living in Mexico. I am unbelievably busy. I get new clients through referrals and everyone thinks I am in an office in Olympia, but most of the time I am sitting on my couch in shorts and a tank top. I play golf 3 times a week on a sand golf course that is free to play. I am terrible, but who cares? My husband is big into Geocaching, I like to go along too, sometimes. I am a Clubmedaholic, having been to a Club Med on average twice a year for the last 20 years. I love to play volleyball. Seahawks are my team and I have been a season ticket holder for over 10 years. We usually make it to half the games and sell the rest of the tickets. Huge fan of reality TV. “ Survivor” is the best. Love “The Voice,” it’s better than Idol. Favorite foods include Pizza Hut deep dish pepperoni pan pizza, Red Robin bacon cheese burger, and original recipe Kentucky Fried Chicken. Favorite drink is a lemondrop, favorite wine would be Sutter Homes White Zinfandel, and definitely Coke over Pepsi, and no diet or zero, has to be the real thing.

The Second Chance By Brian

At the time my first wife Margaret died we lived in a large two floor house just at the head of a Cul-de-sac.

I had lived in this house for over twenty years being the first occupant to take up residence there on the new housing estate and was very reluctant to move away from all the memories it held for me.

Four years went by as I struggled to hold onto that house and look after it the way it had been done in the past; the more I tried the less successful I was.
In May 1999 a smaller home in the road came onto the market, it was a single floor building on the corner I knew the man who had lived there for many years but I was undecided as to whether I should buy or not as I knew it required a lot of work doing to bring it up to a modern standard.

I thought about the prospect of purchasing for a week or so then one day at the plant I made my decision to purchase and drove home that evening intending to contact the property agent with an offer.
As I turned into the road I saw the sale board had “SOLD” on it and my heart sank. I had missed my chance

A few days later, I remember it was a Wednesday and very hot, I was driving into the road and saw the new lady owner out cutting the very large hedgerow and using hand cutting shears to do the job.
I stopped the car and asked her if she intended doing the full hedgerow with those shears. She replied “YES” and it will be the first and last time too.

I said that I had hedge cutting equipment and would bring it to her which would make the task so easy and went to my home to sort the equipment out.
On my return I placed the equipment on the ground and said that if her husband used it the hedge would be done in no time at all.

Her reply hit me between the eyes like a thunderbolt from the sky when she said “I don’t have a husband, “I am a widow” !!!!!
What could I do, I had myself in a situation where I had to offer to do the job for her whilst she supplied the mandatory English tea.


After more work the inevitable cup of tea was to follow as we sat in the yard chatting and telling each other our life stories as to how we came to be alone in this world. It was during this conversation that Joan and I discovered we had so much in common starting with our birth date. We were both born on the eighth of the month, Joan being in March and mine in April of 1941.

We discovered we both had a child born on the 19 April but sadly both those children died in infancy and many more strange but true facts emerged.

Joan is a determined lady who will not allow work to be done for her without her taking part in the job so we found ourselves working together and laughing whilst we did it, this was the start of a new friendship and was I enjoying it. She was a fun person to be with bringing with her the sound of laughter whenever we met.

Very soon I found myself sitting at her dining table, with Joan tending me like a long lost friend. She had a way of making me feel as if I belonged there, having returned home after a long spell away to the welcome of that warm friendly lady who, by this time, I could not stay away from.

One warm evening we sat in the yard chatting as normal when a silence fell between us and I found myself just sitting with her, looking into her eyes. Not a word was spoken for several minutes. It was in no way an uncomfortable silence more like that period when we wake from a sleep feeling refreshed but so comfortable. It was shrouded in a strange feeling of happiness mixed with contentment neither of us wanting to spoil it with words.

I realised that something special had happened to me but didn’t know how to tell her for fear of rejection. Eventually the words came out, they had to, they could not be held back any longer I was bursting with it bubbling up inside my heart. I told Joan that I had fallen in love with her. To my absolute astonishment she said the feeling was mutual as she also loved me and two fifty nine year old kids sat hugging with tears running down our cheeks.

True happiness had been reborn as we became a couple in love.

Nearly a year passed when our friend invited us to an evening party along with some two hundred other guests. This was an opportunity I was not going to miss and arranged with our friend to make it a special evening without Joan knowing my intention.

At eleven pm I left Joan sitting with other friends and went onto the stage to collect a microphone from the DJ. My knees were trembling out of control as I was about to gamble but was not too sure of the outcome. I called Joan to join me on the stage which she did with trepidation written on her face. She had no clue what this crazy guy was going to do next. (I later discovered she thought we were going to thank our friends for inviting us to the party).

I went down on one knee holding a ring in my hand, I told her how much I loved her then asked if she would marry me. That moment of silence seemed to last forever, if a pin dropped it would have sounded like a thunderstorm. Nobody in the room made a sound until this wonderful lady said “YES” and I could breath again. Once more we found ourselves hugging with tears on our cheeks.

Over the next months we had many discussions as to the wedding day. Eventually deciding we would have a very small wedding in the Register Officer in our local city of Chester with just a friend or two attending, we would then go off for a couple of days staying in an hotel. The bans were posted and the day was set.

During one of our outdoor sittings I asked Joan if she would like to change the plans and have our wedding in an unusual place as it was our second chance in life and I would like to make it something special. When I suggested we married in Texas USA her eyes opened wide and I knew I had hit on a good idea. The original date was cancelled and the plans for a trip to Texas were made with our internet friends over there. During the September of 2000 Joan and I spent three weeks with our Texan friends but little was talked of our wedding day with the aim of the visit being to see the area and what was available to us.

Joan was measured for her dress which was to be held in the shop along with all the other things a new bride needed to be collected on our return for the wedding day. At this time Joan knew we would be having a western style wedding and the ranch which we had visited during our trip but had no idea that this was to be an event to remember for the rest of our lives.

Joan was unaware of the many hours I had spent, prior to our September visit, talking with our Texan friends, planning the wedding and all that went with it.
The wedding was to be at the Beaumont Ranch not far from Dallas and would be held in a replica 1820 western town so the outfits had to be in keeping with the theme.

On our return to UK my work had to be geared up as time was running out so my hours spent on the internet arranging and planning were increased ten fold. This was not an easy task with Joan entering the room causing me to hide the information on the computer screen. The e-mails flowed between Texas and UK increasing in volume every day. The Videographer was arranged along with a photographer.

The cowboy stunt team supported by those on horseback had to be finalised. The food and drinks, the place settings, the flowers, the cake, the car with the six foot long horns on the front, the hotel at the Stockyards, the kidnapping of the bride and the rescue by the groom, what had I started here would it all come together as I wanted it, only time would tell and my nerves were suffering badly.
Above all the secret had to be kept if the day was to be the surprise I wanted for my new bride.

We arrived in Texas early March 2001 with all the plans in place but time was running short with so many last minute arrangements to be made, the final fitting for our outfits along with those for the children who were to be the flower girl, ring bearer and best man.
Joan’s daughter and son followed us later so their outfits had to be found along with the two friends from UK who were supporting us.
Joan’s daughter Jane started the day off in true western style when she held a shotgun to my back and frog marched me into the church insisting I marry her mother having done her wrong. Joan’s son Jonathon looked so good when he brought my lovely bride into the little white western chapel and Joan herself was stunning to say the least dressed in her 1820 wedding gown and Stetson with the blue bonnet flowers supported by yellow roses held in her white gloved hands.

The bride was kidnapped and rescued by her new husband with guns blazing and stunt men falling down around the town and the barn reception went according to plan with the music played on western violin and guitar by two cowboys.

At the appointed time Joan and I were arrested by the sheriff and thrown out of town for some offence we had committed. Driven in the convertible with the horns on the front to the Stockyards Hotel where we were received in celebrity style and given the same room in which two famous people stayed whilst planning to rob the bank next door, Bonnie and Clyde.

We have settled in our home, which Joan purchased from under my nose, in the street where I have lived for the past 24 years. Much to my surprise, my old house standing at the head of the street means so little to me. We continue to laugh with each other as we build our life together and we often talk of our previous partners Including them in our life is important to us as we feel trying to exclude them and the we have would be wrong.

Sorry this is so long.

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I know the links do not work on the above so I make an attempt to rectify with this.

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bWY39, reading about your life was so touching....You both are so blessed to have found each other. The pictures are absolutely beautiful, they show a couple that loves life and love each other. I wish you too all the best in the years to come and many days filled with laughter......

Brian.....you must have really wanted that house!:D

Seriously though, your story is one of the sweetest romances I've ever read. I am so very happy for you and Joan, what a wonderful second chance love story. Wishing you many more years of happiness together♥

Your wedding pictures are great, such a fun theme!

Great account of what is obviously a wonderful love and life, Brian! Thank you so much for sharing it.

Love your story Brian and thanks for sharing. What an amazing journey the two of you have had together. :)

What a touching and romantic story Brian. I love the wedding pics. You are an awesome hubby to secretly arrange all of that as a surprise. Sounds like you and your wife have an amazing life together.

Thank you all who posted these kind words.

Yes, Joan and I are truly happy and even now, ten years later, I am deeply in love with her she is an amazing woman who makes me so so happy.

She is known to me as my "Little Yellow Rose Of Texas" and every birthday, anniversary or Valentines day I arrange for her to receive an enormous flower arrangement but there is ALWAYS a single yellow rose as a separate item.

True and deep love at 70 years old is not a gift....it is a blessing :love::love::love::love: