Raisin Bran

A man told a story at George Jones' funeral about how much George loved Raisin Bran cereal and would eat it every morning for breakfast. As much as he loved Raisin Bran he did not like the raisins. So his wife, beginning out of an act of kindness, would remove all the raisins from his cereal. I'm sure over time her beginning act of kindness was see more as an act of love and devotion.




I remember as a child dreaming of Prince Charming riding in on his great white stallion and sweeping me off of my feet and carrying me to a beautiful castle on a hillside. As I grew older I realized there are no such things as Prince Charming and beautiful castles. Those dreams formed more into realities of spying a tall, dark and handsome stranger across a crowded room. Our eyes meet and we instantly fall in love. Time goes by and we find ourselves in a huge 3 bedroom house with a white picket fence. There are two of the most beautiful kids playing together in the yard on a perfectly built wooden swing. He goes to work from 9-5 at his job where he earns six figures while I stay at home decorating the house, cooking dinner and planning lavish parties. That too, was just a fairy tale.


Reality actually comes in the form of falling in love with your high school sweetheart, getting married, having two children and then finding yourself in the middle of a divorce. Just too young and dumb to figure out how to make a last and how to work at marriage. After all, love and marriage is not supposed to be work. It is supposed to be all rainbows and butterflies. Then reality slowly transcends into finding who you think is Mr. Perfect, getting married and having two more kids. And again finding myself in the middle of an ugly divorce.


Starting over was not easy. I remember struggling to make the bills. Struggling to figure out how to balance work and home and life. I remember no longer wanting some fairy tale relationship of stallions and castles, of picket fences and lavish parties. I remember wanting to find a real relationship with a man that would treat me like my dad treats my mom, like my brother treats his wife, like the relationship my sister and her husband share. I remember trying to make those relationships happen out of old friendships. Searching for something out of nothing. Spending nights feeling like I would have to just settle for what I could get simply because there was just nothing out there worth looking for. No more Prince Charmings even existed. They had all been taken.


Funny how when you stop looking and settle into a life that you feel is where you are supposed to be that it turns out to not be that plan at all.


I remember my friend at work telling me that they were hiring a new maintenance guy and thinking "i hope he's cute." Working in a place that is predominantly women you sometimes long for a little eye candy.  Finally, the day arrives that he is to start work. Introductions were made. He was nice and not bad looking. Really, I wasn't even interested. I was in a relationship and things were going ok. That is all anyone can ever really hope for is an ok relationship.


My current relationship continued. Spending time together whenever possible. But as that relationship continued on an even keel another was just beginning. The maintenance guy and I were quickly becoming friends. Conversations with him came easy. We talked about kids, failed marriages, sports, nothing and everything. We would spend time together at work having lunch. Occasionally we would get together outside of work. Time went by and I found myself seeking is advice on all kinds of situations. He was becoming my best friend. Offering sound and unbiased advice about all kinds matters. It always seemed he had logical answers and would help me reason through all kinds of situations.  A new relationship was growing and I was too blind to even notice.


But in the midst of another failed relationship was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. And in the middle of the growing of a beautiful friendship I found my Prince Charming.






I came home the other day and told Brian the story about George Jones. I asked if he would take the raisin out of my Raisin Bran. Well, of course he would.


Who knew Prince Charming takes raisins out of Raisin Bran?