by Ethan Johnson
July 29, 2000

Earlier this month, we met Jeanne and Jeff for breakfast. I was still trying to focus myself into physical reality as I went to bed late. Everything was rather nondescript until I suddenly felt like I was surrounded by some huge inside joke, and that I'd never fully understand the punchline.

Jeanne and Mar made faces at each other as if to say "I know something you don't know". Jeff was laughing at pretty much everything, no matter how seemingly innocuous. Finally, after a small eternity, the bombshell was revealed: Jeanne and Jeff are getting married.

Just the day before, I had asked Mar how long Jeanne and Jeff had been seeing each other. 3 months. For some reason, it feels like three weeks to me. Married? Already?? I mean, Mar and I are pushing 2 years and we're not piling into the chapel yet!

Naturally, this whole turn of events made me think about our relationship and why I haven't proposed to Mar yet.

While Jeanne and Jeff recounted their experience of proposing/getting proposed to, I drifted off and thought about the airport. I found myself thinking back to the quality time I've spent at Dallas/Fort Worth, O'Hare, and Little Rock.

I've got this "thing" for airports. I love to find a seat close to the plate-glass windows and watch the buzz of activity outside the terminal, and when I'm done taking in the view, I like to sit and "people watch".

One observation I've made is that families and lovers have this "fit" that other people do not. When I see groups of people together, I imagine what would have happened if I had met some other woman online and not Mar. I see someone's immediate family, and I can't imagine "fitting in" to the puzzle quite like I do with Marlena's family. And I refuse to gamble on the probability of some other woman getting along with my family as well as Marlena has done.

And so it goes with Jeanne. I've noticed that her apartment is so distinctly her own. Her furniture fits together like a wood and metal mosaic. Her pictures and curtains are just so. Even her dog (past and present) is the perfect compliment to her personality.

That said, I had assumed (correctly) that the man that Jeanne "settled down" with would similarly compliment her personality and "fit" her life much like her worldly belongings. Which is not to say Jeff blends in with the furniture. But when I look at Jeff and Jeanne together, I can see the "x-factor" that has been missing from prior relationships.

When I look at my own life and times, I'm amazed at how our family has come together. When we went out looking for another dog, we found Pooty Poot Poot, and I can't imagine not having him around. Our house has that certain "Ethan and Marlena" quality to it. Our cars fit us like a glove. But most importantly, Marlena and I are closer than I can possible begin to explain, and there could never be any woman who fits me like Mar does. We've come a long way in a short time, and it won't be too much longer before there's serious marriage talk in our household as well.

But for the moment, this is Jeanne and Jeff's time in the sun. And to them, I wish all the best. <EM>