I may have mentioned that the first three months of the year are full of birthday celebrations in our family. Well, today is my dear husband’s special day. He shares this day with a niece and a godchild.

However, it is his day to celebrate. Rich turns 79 today. He has reminded me of this fact for the last three months. So I better remember it, right? I am planning a home-cooked meal which is increasingly a rarity in our lives.

 For years now, he has marveled at the fact that he has made it this far. That’s because his childhood and adolescence were filled with real-life adventures. His early married life wasn’t much different.

We were just kids when we took the vows of Holy Matrimony in St. Michael Church, Pawcatuck, Connecticut on September 9, 1967. He had just graduated from college and taken a job at a local bank so that I could stay in school and graduate two years later.

I did finish in two years with a small baby on my lap. Our life together has presented many challenges, not the least of which was his serious life threatening injury in 1970 while playing a rugby game in Montreal resulting in the loss of his left leg at the knee. We had been married 2 ½ years and had a twenty-month-old child. It was a very large challenge.

Here’s where God comes in: Rich also had a serious drinking problem. I’m not breaking his anonymity with this revelation. He would be the first to tell you this fact. Someone was watching out for his well-being because after years of juggling work and booze, he fell off the “cliff” and had a spiritual awakening. He admitted that he was powerless over alcohol and his life had become unmanageable. He turned his life over to the care of a Higher Power-to God’s unconditional love.

There is no question in my mind that God’s unconditional love guides all the 12 Step programs that exist for people in need of rescue from numerous addictions. The principle of turning one’s will over to the care of God, who loves us unconditionally, creates a freedom that cannot be described in mere words. It has to be experienced.

I am blessed to be in relationship with this wonderful man, wonderful husband, wonderful father. He has gifts of humor, generosity, and patience. We thank God unceasingly for His presence in our lives and the blessings that we have received.

Terri