Turning the page on 17 years of marriage felt like more than just beginning a new chapter, so I said it was the end of Book One:
End of Book 1. https://t.co/iyYdVegjZq #instagrimm pic.twitter.com/Azk0eOcr6s
— Avdi Grimm (@avdi) January 22, 2018
But then I got to thinking: if my life really were divided into “books”, which would this be? When I look back at the different “epochs” in my personal history, I think this might actually be closer to Book Five.
Book One: Little House in the Big Woods (1980-1992)
In which our hero enjoys a rustic, secluded, loving but somewhat lonely upbringing as a homeschooled only-child in the woods.
Book Two: Divine Discontent (1993-2000)
In which a parental divorce brings an abrupt end idylls of childhood; our hero discovers girls, tragedy, and gloomy music; he finds an identity in faith; and spends a great deal of time waiting around for his life to begin.
Book Three: Instant Family; or, Seven Lean Years (2000-2007)
In which our hero becomes a husband and stepfather overnight. It goes about as well you’d expect.
Book Four: Growing Up and Growing Down (2008-2017)
In which our protagonist and partner (seemingly) reconcile. He transforms his career, they have lots of kids, and he accomplishes all of his goals.
Book Five: Still Untitled (2018-???)
In which things take an unexpected turn…
Hoping book seven is released soon and a bit brighter.
Took me a couple books, and me thinking to myself, “These don’t sound like very good reads.” Then “oh, maybe Avdi likes these books because he can relate to the similarities in his own life.”
Oh… THIS is Avdi’s life. :’-(
Not to be OCD, but where is Book Three?
Book 2.5, in which Avdi has some coffee and edits his post.
😀 Good, I was afraid I’d missed a book! Obsessive proofreader here, sorry!
(At least I didn’t remind you that ’80-’82-ish were still in Nashville and then Baltimore, because it would complicate your nice neat epochs! You won’t remember those anyway.)
At any rate…your life-read is not a dull, uneventful one, that’s for sure. Right about now, you probably wish it could have been sometimes. At least main characters don’t get killed off every 5 minutes. 😉
All I can say is, I wish you no more loneliness and catastrophes.
As far as “Instant Family” and the phrase “it goes about as well as you’d expect”… I’ll say that my expectations are likely inflated by watching you talking about toddler rearing, meal planning and general kid wrangling. I wound up “settling into the traces” better than anybody expected, and your recounting of kid wrangling feels similar.