I officially declare our week of roller coaster emotional turmoil OVER. Last Friday I was honestly concerned that Michael and I were not going to get over the stupid and unnecessary mess we had found ourselves in. Why is it that two people that love each other and have been together for over 16 years can be so hurtful?

Come last Saturday we were repairing the damage and assessing next steps. By Sunday I was utterly exhausted and amazingly hopeful. We put a path together and seemed committed to execution. And then Michael’s grandmother died. That simultaneously took away all of our short-term structure and rushed everything back into perspective. You get one shot at this. And that one time goes incredibly fast.

The week was a blur of meetings, and color, and Catholicism, and frustration, and elation. We loved seeing Michael’s family, and just wished it were under better circumstances. Too much of the past several days are fuzzy. There always seemed to be too many people involved in a conversation and it felt near impossible to finish a thought and carry on with something legitimate. I do know I ate way too much Italian and no amount of running will fix it.

I must say though, that the service for Grannie was very respectful, entertaining and just beautifully spiritual. I don’t proclaim to understand all the components of the Catholic mass, but the symbolic nature of it is visually incredible. I was honored to sit and listen to the priest and more importantly Michael’s mother. She did her own mother justice with the eulogy. Simple, honest, and perfectly fair. And very heartbreaking.

So on to less emotional topics. One of the things that came of out of our weekend from hell, was my need to get more involved in two of the things that take up much of Michael’s time. Hashing and the Y. While I have not figured out my upper hand with hashing, I have with the gym. I am going to the gym, and I got a membership today. Yes, I initially did it for him, but there is much for me to gain in this as well. They have ballroom dancing classes. I have been trying to get Michael to do this for years. He wanted me to go with him to the gym, and they have ballroom dancing classes. Guess what we are doing each and every Wednesday night? Things are looking up. Prepare to dance off that pasta, baby. Dance it off.