Sunday, July 27, 2008

Well, it looks like my parents aren't getting a divorce!!

My FABULOUS parents have been married for 35 years! How amazing is that? Should I ever catch myself a husband, at least I have excellent role models!

JANE & STEVE, THIS IS YOUR LIFE!

Once upon a time in Albuquerque, New Mexico, my Journalism major dad befriended my uncle Marty at the University of New Mexico...On one fateful night my dad's car broke down and uncle Marty came to the rescue! My dad found himself at the Watts family dinner table, dining across from Janie Watts (a cute 19 year old ex varsity cheerleading captain with a boyfriend named Randy Schmeeeellllee???)- My mom had a hunch my dad was "the one" and broke up with Randy that night in order to go steady with my dad. 7 months later they were engaged at Bob's Big Boy or Disneyland?? - My dad went home for the summer to Brentwood, CA and proceeded to send my mom an engagement ring in the mail. My parents had a TANNING CONTEST (iodine mixed with baby oil is the secret to a golden tan) before their 8:11pm wedding and it seems like it was a tie (they both look darker than dark in their wedding pictures)! After a honeymoon to Hawaii (my dad sold his canary yellow MGC car to fund this magic and the lobster my mom had never had before) they settled in Pacific Palisades without a penny, won the Newlywed Game, too poor to keep their apartment they moved into the camper they had won (parked in my great grandma's driveway), my mom loved blue eye shadow, my dad went to law school, they got a light blue bug, went to visit relatives in Tulsa, moved there, had a basset hound that got run over, my dad worked at Quik Trip, the Quik Trip was demolished in a tornado with my dad inside (he obviously lived), my mom worked at Rebel Jeans & learned to space coat hangers two fingers apart, I was born on my due date (looking hispanic with a full head of black curly hair), moved to the fancier part of town around the corner from what we thought was a castle, they were still in love, we went to the park a lot in a red wagon, my mom babysat neighborhood kids, my love for Strawberry Shortcake developed, Beau was born, he almost drown in a toilet (all my fault), he wore my hand me down clothes and pink pajamas, my parents left us with strangers and went to softball tournaments and hung out on rafts, they hosted scavenger hunts at our house, my mom drove us to hang out with a kid that had chicken pox to get it over with, my mom would blast Stevie Nicks, in the summers we joined the exclusive pool in town, my parents developed a love for Woody Allen, my dad got an El Camino and was moving up the Quik Trip ladder, we were in the church choir, we moved to Palos Verdes, CA because my dad was buying a 7-11 in Manhattan Beach, Beau & I were held back because we didn't know enough for California's standards, my mom wore a triangle top bikini with dolphin shorts, we went to Yosemite and San Francisco often, they were great parents, my mom gave me a home perm (not so hot), we moved to Manhattan Beach to a house that had a tree growing through the wall a few blocks from the beach, the whole family became ridiculously tan, my mom wore bandannas tied around her arm or thigh or head or ankle (you get the idea), my mom spoke in prose & poem, my parents would put us to bed and go hang out with the neighbors next door (fishy-eh?), my mom was always the home room mother, my dad would run in the MB 10ks that went right in front of our house - we would sit out and cheer him on, my parents are still in love, we always had the coolest decorated homes, we packed it up and moved to Westlake Village as my dad was offered a distributorship of the L.A. Times, we grow watermelons, my mom is magic in the garden, we embraced the Stepford Wives of Westlake and relaxed into the suburbs, my parents go on tons of trips including a lovely Paris excursion, we have a cow in our back yard, my mom had us bike to school to clear the cobwebs from our heads in the morning, family reunions are hosted, we watched a lot of SNL, children are schooled, moldy milk was poured on Beau, they have perfect attendance to recitals games & plays, we swam in our pool and made up games, team banners were sewn, my dad and Beau would play catch, they still aren't divorced, string was tied to Beau & me as we slept and we would follow it to our Christmas presents, our animals had to be named by my dad and after a baseball player, we had family dinners, we went to Costco, neighbors would yell about fudgesicles (hilarious), my grandparents would take Sunday drives to see us, my parents we always my number one supporters, my mom was always painting, my dad would work all night and then would hang out with my mom all day - gallivanting around town, we were on the community swim team, we had a Volvo (or 6), my dad took me on a trip to see colleges, my dad always won his high rolling rotisserie baseball leagues, we went to Pepperdine games, we were helped with our homework, my mom trained us to be excellent at oral reports, they were still so in love, we had a lifeguard tower in our living room, we vacationed in Maui, my parents tan well, we go to college, they move to Shell Beach and then back to Tulsa, reunite with friends from back in the day, become ridiculously social, take dream trips, are well-read, very hip, hang out together all day, they are best friends, soul mates, a fantastic balance of loveliness, super fun to be with and still ridiculously devoted to each other and in love! Congratulations on knowing "the secret" to living happily ever after. I love you! Here's to 35 more years!!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your Dad read the blog out loud to me as I sat by his side....we both starting crying by the time he finished...then we hugged each other and blessed you for such a nice tribute! Loving you always...

Brian A. Jones said...

Thanks for the cookies on Saturday! Wish I could've hung out with you ladies more... we should grab a drink in Venice sometime.

Anonymous said...

How lovely......

Brooke and Peter said...

I love it!!! They are so great... yes, a true testament to living happily . . . ever after.

SUMMER said...

Very cute and FUNNY title!!!