Signs On the Wall

 

 

Today I have a guest blogger:  Christa Wilson, my twin sister. 

Side note:  Both Christa and I love blogging, sharing stories, recipes, DIY projects, etc.  We are creating a blog together that will be devoted to sharing these types of things.  We want to keep our family blogs separate and mainly for family photos and family happenings.  All of my non-family related stories that I have started posting will be moved to our new blog.  We are currently designing it and can’t wait to share it with everyone! Thank you for everyone who reads our blogs!!!!!! We appreciate it! I know everyone is not surprised that we are doing this “together”J

 

You should have known better, the signs were all there.

Have you ever daydreamed about hopping aboard a plane on a whim (like Europe) and just going there?  Well I have actually done it and boy did red flags come up! Can you guess what I did with my red flags?

In life, we all have these major situations that can change the course of our path of life.  I am writing this now because I am in a completely different place in my life. I am married to the most fantastic man ever and have the best kids.  I will forever be connected to my ex-husband because he is my son's father.  He is also happily remarried and we now can look back and say we were not good for each other.  Matt is an intellect (he graduated from Cambridge University) who is obsessed with fishing and taking trips on his own.  He takes trips with his family too, but lots of fishing trips to exotic places around the world as well.  We used to fight about the fact that he said he was going to leave the family for a month and take a trip to Mount Everest and what kind of wife would not support her husband's dreams. 

I couldn't imagine my husband not wanting to take a trip with me for that long.  I understand a guy’s trip for a week, but could not understand a month away from you family.   Matt is very British.  If you have ever met a Brit, you know what I mean.  They are very different from a girl from Louisiana.  I was attracted to the difference but ultimately we had nothing in common, other than he is a good person.  My husband Brad is the opposite of Matt in personality. He is also a smart guy.  He graduated from Baylor with an MBA but if you asked him, he would tell you "I'm not very smart." He is the funniest and most loyal guy I know. He is so faithful. His dream vacation would be traveling somewhere in the world with his wife and kids.  He loves a guy’s night out, a short guy’s trip here or there, but being with his family is what makes him most happy.  I love that he is so humble.  He is from Texas so he has lots in common with this Louisiana girl. 

Back to my story.  It was the fall of 2000. Paige was two years old and Matt was working offshore as an engineer for Schlumberger.  We were engaged and the plan was to get married the following August in England.  Matt got sent to a rig in South Korea for a month and then had to fly to England to get his visa renewed.  I got a wild hair and decided Paige and I would surprise him in London at Heathrow airport when he exited his plane.

 

 

 

We would travel by train five hours with him to his mom's house.  I called his mom to let her know the plans.  There were wedding arrangements I could make while over there.  I packed all of the baby gear and boarded a flight from Lafayette, to Houston, to Gatwick Airport in London.  I remembered being on the plane and there being the worst turbulence ever.  My sweet Paige slept through it all, but I thought "what have I done!"  I was so scared!  The plane shook like a little cardboard box.  As soon as I landed, I had to figure out how to get myself, baby, and baby gear to Heathrow Airport.  I took a bus.

 

When I got to Heathrow, I waited at the gate for Matt to exit the plane (this was before September 11).  Matt never got off the plane.  I didn't know what to do! I found a phone and called my mom.  She said , “Oh my gosh Christa! Matt called and he missed his flight from Korea.  I told him about you surprising him and he is soooooo mad at you!"  He is taking the next plane tomorrow.  I got off of the phone and sat down and cried.  I had a baby with me, we had flown to another continent, and the man I was supposed to marry was mad at me for surprising him.  I didn't know what to do.  I called his mom crying and asked what I should do.  She told me to take a train to Blackpool (her house) which was about five hours away.  My heart was broken. I gathered myself, my baby, and our million baby gear items. I had to go to the London Underground and take a certain train. 

In my naivety, I didn't realize I should have taken a taxi to the correct station.  Instead I did the entire trek underground, up and down steps.  I had countless strangers helping me.  The kindness was unbelievable.  I finally made it to my train.  When the whistle blew everyone ran to the train.  I couldn't run because I had a million baby things.  I didn't understand why people were running.  Once I got on the train I understood.  There were no seats left. Paige and I had to sit on the floor for five hours. When we got to Blackpool, I took a taxi to my mother in law's house.  I was exhausted, heartbroken, and defeated.  I told her that I would not be marrying her son.  She told me to go to bed and things would be better in the morning. The next evening, Matt showed up. I was still mad at him.  He apologized and said he was mad because all he wanted to do was to go fishing every day all day long and Paige and I showing up ruined his plans.  He would end up getting his karma because he was not allowed to fish because Foot and Mouth was rampant across England and they closed fishing at the exact time I flew over. 

So I did marry Matt.  This trip was a huge red flag and I chose to ignore it. You can't make someone be the person you want them to be.  You will spend the rest of your life trying to change them.  Guess what?  Grown adults usually don't change.  They are who they are.  I don't regret my crazy trip to England.  I did it on my own with crazy obstacles. I'm proud of myself!