The Good Stuff

Okay Joanne, your patience is about to be rewarded. Send the kids out to wander the neighborhood, tell Steve to load his own ammo, take the phone off the hook, lower the blinds and grab a cold one; because it’s time for the good stuff.

Yeah, that’s right - we weren’t just curious about the amount of water run off during August at Silver Creek Falls. Or whether you can buy pig ears at Costco in Salem (you can… but oddly you can’t in Santa Clara). Or whether the Apple Store in Tigard had iPod Touches in stock (they did!). Or whether you can find really good Mexican food in Salem (you can!).

Yes, all these things are nice. All these things hold some dim allure (ok.. the Great Harvest Bread store held way more than a dim allure.. but I need to stay focused). You see, all these things pale in comparison to the accomplishment of our primary mission. Our goal. Our singular desire. To observe Joel in the throws of relational bliss!

Yes, Joanne – we’re going to talk about Joel’s love life! Grab some chocolate and hunker down!

Oh, so I guess this would be a good time to point out that Joel has a girlfriend ;)

Her name is Carissa for those of you not tapped directly into the Michigan/Oregon/California geezer-net.

Our first face to face sighting of Carissa occurred on Sunday afternoon. Now, put yourself into her shoes. You are living in Salem and dating this guy.. and you know his parents are coming to town to interrogate.. I mean.. hang with you. Just how much more contrived and awkward could a first meeting be? Well, to her credit Carissa did answer the door when Joel knocked and let us in.. so .. technically – whatever happened next was really her fault! Right?!

Once we had greeted each other we got to sit with Joel and Carissa and chat a bit and get to know a little about her.. and vice versa. I think with Alzheimer’s like I have.. you can’t remember each individual detail during the discussion.. so I just more or less hope I can recall the big picture. And I can tell you Julie and I were really pleased with the big picture. It is very easy to see why Joel is attracted to Carissa. She is a very sweet person with a very quiet, gentle spirit. Other fascinating details learned about Carissa include:

• she is an actual woman.. you can tell by the fact her apartment does not look like a cave (Joel!)
• she is the oldest of three children (so she understands the burden Julie went through with Janice and Joanne)
• she reads a lot (an obvious sign of excellent breeding)
• she scrapbooks (an obvious sign of excellent breeding)
• she is a great listener (or did we just talk too much?)
  
• and she quite clearly is smitten by Joel (as he is with her)

So, like she has all that going for her!

After we all did our best ‘contrived talking’ thing for awhile we left for dinner. The kids had set it up so that Carissa’s folks - Dan and Joan – would join us at the restaurant – so we ended up meeting them and enjoying dinner together. The conversation was really easy to get into and we were eager to learn a little more about Carissa and her family and cough up some additional details regarding Team Henderson. Dan and Joan are really great people and very easy to like! It was a pleasant environment for relaxing a bit and enjoying being together. I think it took some of the pressure off the kids because they just sat there giggling and sharing inside jokes as the parents yakked away about them! On several occasions I heard Joel say ‘I didn’t know that!’ as we shared stories – and there were a couple times where Julie kicked me under the table.. so hopefully we kept them entertained. All in all it was a really nice time and we enjoyed it thoroughly.

Carissa maintains an emergency nurse’s schedule.. which is quite intense and requires she sleep some odd hours.. so it wasn’t until later Monday afternoon that we met up with her again. We decided to get out and just do some fun things together – which is more the Henderson style. We picked her up and did some shopping and then we went bowling. It was fun to watch Joel and Carissa duke it out on the lanes.. and it was particularly fun when Carissa totally PWNED Joel (and the rest of us, actually!) in the last game.

Apparently, she didn’t get the ‘let your boyfriend and/or boyfriend’s parents win’ memo! (Carissa did mention later in the weekend that she can be – as she refers to it – ‘a bit competitive’ – which we here at Team Henderson admire greatly!).

Next it was back to Joel’s apartment to hang and play some cards. I mean – seriously – do you think you can even be in a relationship with a Henderson if you are a cardtard? No – seriously? We had to find out. You will all be very pleased to hear that Carissa is decidedly NOT a cardtard! Whew! Dodged that bullet. She is an experienced card player.. who is just learning Euchre.. so Grandma Elsie.. you still hold the crown. However, she is a gamer and now battle tested at the card table. Well done Carissa! And, yes, Bill – we tried to expose her to the ‘rule of three’ and ‘fathead’ just in case she should have some future opportunity to meet you!

One of my favorite moments with the kids was when we left Joel’s apartment to go pick up some dinner on Monday night. This involved walking to a local Chinese restaurant. It was nice to see them holding hands and walking together, being playful with each other and laughing as they walked along. It was like I wasn’t there and I got just a peek at what they truly are when they are alone together (meaning not under direct microscopic parental scrutiny!) – and comfortable – and just enjoying each other’s presence. This little glimpse into their feelings for each other was touching to see. It is clear that they really enjoy each other and are very happy together. What more could we possible have hoped to find? Julie and I are so excited for the two of them.

Ok Joanne. Let the kids back into the house. That’s all I got. For now ;)