Day 20: Hotlanta Version 1

As we were sitting in church this morning I thought as I always do how in some way the message that is being delivered relates in someway to what is going on in my life and I often wonder if it is the same for others. As the message was about how all people are accepted regardless of their "brokenness" and that the only perfect person was Jesus who accepted all then who are we to pass judgements on others, regardless of what they do or have done. It made me think of the whole reason that I started this 40 Days Before 40 for my wife and on the halfway day it reminded me again. Her unselfishness towards others and her wanting to help all really came into my mind while listening to the scripture reading of Luke 6: 37, "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measuer, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back." If you think about it that is a lot to take in and when I look at Sandra I see of lot of what that scripture was about. She is a model to be followed by many.

Of our many trips to Atlanta together, the first one was probably the most memorable. With myself being a big New York Mets fan and her an Atlanta Braves fan it was just a matter of time before we would go and see them play in Atlanta. We had a weekend the first weekend in September of 2007 in which we would be able to see them on a Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

In viewing the first game we met two gentleman that were in our section that we immediately had a great time with, and with whom I was having fun bantering with as the Mets were winning for the second straight night against their Braves. After the Mets victory the four of us went to a place called Jocks and Jills to have dinner and they were wondering why I hadn't married this lady yet. I told them if I could do it today but sarcastically said that there wasn't a Tiffany's around. They proceeded to take me to a Tiffany's (I thought the only one was in NYC) in a mall fairly close to where we were. Thankfully on the wallet, they were closed as Sandra knocked on the window to see if anyone was there. She even had a friend on the phone who was an ordained minister to see if it could be done over the phone. While this was all done in jest, I think that it was a good sign of things to come.

After the failed nuptials, we ended up just walking around the city and sitting on a curb for a while that evening and had one of our many great conversations about our past, present, and future. The next day we woke to go see another game before making the depressing ride home on Sunday evening. It was another wonderful experience that we had and while having pictures of it, they were buried on a hard drive. Therefore, Day 20, hump day, is a 20 picture collage of the first time that we spent together in Atlanta.

Day 20: Hotlanta Version 1

July 26, 2009

Half way there............