Valentine's Day with an enemy.

Valentine’s Day: the one day of the year that we have to cram 364 of screwing up into one big flower bouquet or a box of candy. I have always tried to do something different each year, flowers and candy just doesn’t cut it for me, I try to be creative and mix things up, and this year was no different.

Em & I decided to not spend much at all for Valentine’s Day since we had plans to surprise Mom at the Lake (I will get into that in a little bit). So, I had to think of something that did not cost much money and she would love.

Friday afternoon I bought 65 balloons and one very large Valentine’s Day Balloon that I would fill her car with while she was at school. I planned a head and called the school to let them know that I would be in the parking lot for an hour blowing up balloons and please don’t call the cops on me. I was not sure how seeing a man sitting in the car in the parking of an elementary school would look, but I did not want to ruin Emily’s Valentine’s Day surprise by going to jail. It took me about an hour, and 3 almost pass outs, to blow up all the balloons.
It worked perfect for me. Emily went all day seeing other teachers getting flowers and she had, for the first time in 6 years, not gotten flowers from me on Valentine’s Day, needless to say, she was a little bummed. Here are the balloons back at home.

All the pictures in this blog can be clicked on to see a bigger size



Saturday morning, bright and early, we headed down to the Lake to surprise Momma T for her Valentine’s Day. We stopped and got a balloon and a rose and placed it on her first door step and knocked on the door. When she opened the door she saw the balloons and Winston came running in. Seeing Mom’s surprised look was worth getting up so early!

We spent the day shopping, seeing Grandpa (who is doing amazing. It was the first time in 4 months that I have seen him without tubes and out of the hospital), and an old enemy. Emily wanted to see our old Lake house where I lived when Dad passed away. Cindy, Dad’s 2nd wife, still lives there with her new husband, so I knew there was a chance that Cindy would be home, but we forged ahead. For those who do not know, Cindy and I have not spoken in 11 years. We never got along while Dad was alive and certain things happened after Dad’s passing that will forever leave a small scar for Justin and me.

When we pulled up we see Cindy outside with her dogs, and I knew at that point that we have crossed the point of no return: we had to say hello to the woman that I had grown to despise. I walked down the hill towards her and she immediately says: “Josh? Is that you? “At this point there are so many different things running through my mind. All the bad things that I have said, and written about Cindy ,the many fights that we had and the long battle for Dad’s attention. Cindy at this point has two options: kindly ask us to leave, or be as nice as possible, and as I was slowly walking down that hill, I expecting her to be curt with us and ask us to leave.

I introduce her to Emily and the conversation begins. Mom, Cindy, Emily and I chatted for about an hour about Dad, family, what we are doing, and no mention of bad times were brought up. Now, part of me believes that that Cindy was very nice because Emily was there, but, no matter, she was very nice and I hate to admit it, but I enjoyed the conversation and am glad that we stopped. I feel a certain closure now. I know that Dad was watching on pins and needles as well. Sipping his Hamm’s beer and just waiting for the fireworks to happen. We went inside and I was able to show Emily around and tell her some stories about the house. We went through old pictures and Cindy gave us any pictures that we wanted, so questions asked. She even gave us one of Dad’s old Ion Electric hats, which was Dad’s electrical company.

I left the old house with mixed feelings. Here is a woman that I have worked so hard to despise, but was a large part of my life for 13 years, and that is hard to ignore. I am not saying that next time I am at the Lake I will swing by and say hello, but that day, Cindy could have been a huge bitch like I remembered her, but instead she was as nice as good be, and I am glad to have a little bit better memory of the woman that my Dad was married to. Here are 2 of my favorite pictures that I now have.

This is one of the last pictures we have of Dad. This is him working on the MASSIVE all marble shower at the Lake House. That is Cale, our Scottie at the time: Winston is the 4th Scottie in the Tyler family.

Yes, Dad thinks he looks good here. Style was not one of Dad's strength: At least he smiles big!

Justin, Dad and myself. I am around 10 there. It is a great shot of the 3 of us!

That night we surprised Mom again, with dinner at J’ Bruner’s. Which, if are from the Lake, you know precisely what I am talking about; if not, you probably just think it is just another fine dining restaurant. They have the best steak and lobster that I have ever had: hands down! Granted, you pay the price for it, but it was worth it. We always start the night off with the best onion rings in Missouri. Mom always gets the deep fried Lobster, and I used to get that until my stomach decided that it does not want to put up with me anymore, so I have opted for the boiled lobster, which is still good.

It was a great Valentine’s Day; probably one the best that I have ever had. Emily and I had a great day with Momma T and a great dinner: couldn't’t ask for much more than that! Later this week I will post pictures of Emily and I’s Valentine’s Gift to ourselves (we have to wait for the rest of the family to see it; it’s a surprise)!
Keep on Keeping on…..mrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr