Bob Greenberger

« Seeing Serenity | Main | 25 Years + 3 days »

October 18, 2005

25 Years Ago Today

Twenty-five years ago today it was dark and stormy. I woke up and went to the Laundromat to get some clothes washed. My buddies John and Jeff spent the day with me and we headed from Huntington to a Plainview theater to watch Nicholas Roeg’s Bad Timing: A Sexual Obsession with, of all people, Art Garfunkel in the lead. After the movie, about which I can recall absolutely no details, we headed back to the apartment to changer for dinner. On our way to Westbury, we stopped at a corner deli and picked up a six-pack of Coke.

We got to C.W. Post in plenty of time and milled about waiting for things to get underway. The rain kept others from joining us on time and we pushed the reservations as long as we could before we had to get started.

And on that dark and stormy night, 25 years ago, Deb and I got married. Not everyone made it. Paul Levitz, who was to get married two weeks later, had the windshield wipers go out on his car while on the Long Island Expressway and never got there. My college roommate Mike and Deb’s former roommate Laura got there during the ceremony and missed out on their chance to read from the service.

None of that marred the event.

In the intervening years, we joke about the conditions of that night but have always looked back on it fondly. And in looking back, it’s been an interesting journey. We’ve lived at four different addresses, held a score of jobs, conceived and raised two children, endured an array of nannies, dealt with loss, catastrophes, wonderful moments and significant events. There’s a lot to look back on and appreciate, some regrets, and certainly more than a few things we’d do differently.

Through it all, we’ve been together and like it that way. We comfort each other, look after one another and think we’ve done a pretty good job with our lives and our family. Of course, not everyone thought it would last. On our fifth anniversary, I wanted to call Deb’s father from Cape May and blow a raspberry into the phone. Deb prevented me but when we told him about it years later, he laughed and said she should have let me; he deserved it. After all, we’ve lasted longer than four of our siblings.

We’re taking today and tomorrow off, retreating for two days reserved just for us. We’ll work out a bit, take strolls along the hiking trails, and ignore our diets for 48 hours and indulge. We have a lot to celebrate and a lot to be thankful for.

I can’t imagine my life without Deb by my side. I just thought you should know it.

Posted by Bob Greenberger at October 18, 2005 05:21 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.malibulist.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/3399

Comments

Posted by: Elayne Riggs at October 18, 2005 02:09 PM

Posted by: Jackie at October 18, 2005 02:46 PM

Posted by: James at October 18, 2005 02:49 PM

Posted by: Paul1963 at October 18, 2005 04:11 PM

Posted by: Andy Holman at October 18, 2005 10:34 PM

Posted by: Lance Woods at October 19, 2005 08:14 PM

Posted by: David K. M. Klaus at October 19, 2005 08:25 PM

Posted by: chrisccl at October 19, 2005 09:26 PM

Posted by: Howard Margolin at October 20, 2005 04:14 AM

Posted by: Julio Diaz at November 1, 2005 03:41 PM