I Left You Hanging...Our Story (Part 7)

When I last blogged our story things were starting to look better for Paula and myself. Love was restored and our little lives seemed to be headed in a better direction. My job at the resturant was going well. And Paula was beautiful as she grew rounder with our baby.

I had build her a little wood alter for our living room and she had placed all of her magical nic-nacs there. It was during this time that we really started to get to know each other. Up to this point we were just functioning out of the experiances we had had together for the last 5 months or so. It was a special time where together we started to learn what it meant to not just live for ourselves, but for others as well.

My time at the resturant was a step in our journey to Jesus. Because at this resturant, "150 Grand Cafe" I met a wonderful lady named Terri Last. She was the wife of a pastor. Now if you know Terri you know she is a lover of people and it doesn't matter who you are, or how out there you might be, she just loves you. To be honest with you I didn't see her like that at the time. What I saw was based on my preconsieved idea of someone who was a Christian and not only that but the wife of a pastor too. I mean I had gone to church once in awhile as a kid, I knew what Christians were all about. She was very sweet but nieve. The poor lady hadn't really been exposed to all the scum and wildness of the world. (Sex, drugs and rock-n-roll) Even so she was super nice. You just couldn't help but like her. And when she listened to you she really seemed to be interested and not judgmental.I really liked her. So did Paula. Paula would come and pick me up after work (we only had one car) and the two of them would sit around and chat while I finished my shift. They hit it off too because they are very similar people. I've got to say it was a very sweet time in our lives.

Once in awhile I would get the chance to work the dinner shift. That's where the real money was. The cool, wild thing was that when the doors would close and the customer were gone, the resturant/bar would transform into philosophical forum. That's when the conversation would turn to faith, God and the spirtual rhelm. In the cool blue glow of the vacant resturant/bars lights, we would all grab an after shift beer or glass of wine. As we sat there refilling salt and pepper shakers and folding napkins or just hanging around, we would fill the air with a buzz of thoughts, questions, and wise self taught answers about what we believed or didn't belive. It was the real deal. A safe place. Where we were a family. Letting our masks down a little. We struggled through the high stress of waiting tables together day in and day out. And when night fell we laughed, loved and longed together. But still we were alone.

But I wasn't alone. I had a lovely lady who was going to give birth our off-spring. Paula continued to come pick me up after my lunch shift and it was growing very near the time for the baby to be born. Now even though I liked my job, the people and the hours, I wasn't making enough money to really make ends meet. So with the baby on the door step, and the bills mounting my dad offered me a 2nd chance to work in the Honey Bee buisness with him. (It was more like a 30th chance because I don't know how many times I had quit working for him through the years. The long suffering of a fathers love. Thanks dad.) I accepted his offer. In August we had a baby girl whom we named Eden Rose, instead of Pagan Presley (that's another story) and I went to work for my dad in his Honey Bee buisness. Oh man was she beautiful. We decided to get married in February and moved into a little white house (no picket fence), just down the road from my parents, and not knowing it, just down the road from Scott and Terri Last. That sweet lady from the resturant and her pastor husband. Oh how things were about to change in ways we would never have expected.