This morning I am once again in wonderful Cleveland thanks to the safe, but enervating experience of air travel. I took a redeye which was two hours late. But I'm not the only one who is haggard. The Spousal Unit has completed a marathon of momhood, successfully. Again.
The Unit is a supermom. Not just a responsible parent, not just a soccer mom, but one of those backbones of the community. Anybody who watches the TV show 'The Unit' knows Regina Taylor plays Molly Blane who is the wife of Dennis Haysbert's character. That's what kind of woman my wife is, and for the record of those who say there are no strong black women on television - there are at 47 episodes which make all the difference. This time, my Unit got my two daughters through The Wizard of Oz.
Not that I really know, but there must be in Los Angeles, two dozen theatre companies for little kids to cut their dramatic teeth. My brother Deet and his wife are somewhat connected out Pasadena way with such things and have been involved with various professional and amateur productions over the years. This time we were invited to join a production of the Wizard of Oz which culminated in four 2 1/2 hour productions over the weekend. I've seen school plays and talent shows, but this was an extraordinary deal with a live orchestra performed at Pasadena City College. The baby Bowens made a strong representation all around with their cousins, Deet's kids. So we had four in the cast all with multiple roles in two of the casts including the Tin Man.
The Unit, for her part, did extra volunteer work and the kind of gap-filling that makes all the difference in the end. In addition to getting the kids out to rehearsals every week for 12 weeks or so, 80 miles round trip, she managed the whole food thing, as usual. See, the Unit is brilliant when it comes to feeding the masses. As a caterer, half-restaurant owner, and industrial food buyer and cafeteria manager, she's knows it all. It has made her invaluable to the PTA, the soccer league, the baseball teams, the family reunions, the Girl Scouts, the Boy Scouts, the church, on God only knows how many occasions. People eat, always. She is there always. I can't tell you how many thousands of dollars we've spent at Smart & Final waiting for a reimbursement from a fellow caterer or charitable organization. She's not a machine, but the results speak for themselves. She puts everybody else to shame, with her organizational skills and yet charms them to putty. She is clockwork, backbone, and the doer of deeds. She puts on the apron and all the right things happen.
A couple months ago I bought a replacement wedding ring. This one is Tungsten. It's not glamorous, but it's stronger than gold. That's how I think about my marriage. It's made of working metal, not bling. And my daughters know very well that they have a high standard to live up to. That chapter of organized drama is now officially over. We'll get the DVDs and I'll have some stills. The flowers will stand in vases for a while staying fresh as the memories. But the continuum of work that the Spousal Unit has assembled will long be felt, not only by our family but others as well. It's an extraordinary blessing to be married to a woman such as this.
Now if I can only get the airlines to recognize.
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