Monday, October 1, 2007

If I Can't Kill Somethin' When I Get There, Then I'm Not Goin'...

Ival and I met when he was 16 and I was 18. He was my sister Linda's best friend. Here's a very short version of how we ended up married: we started dating almost the day we met. We were engaged about 8 months later (he was 17!). Things didn't work out - imagine that! So, I got married to someone else and he committed suicide (not Ival - my first husband). Then we started dating again. We broke up, I got married to someone else and so did he and later divorced. As soon as we were divorced, we started dating. We broke up. I got married to someone else and later divorced. We started dating again. This time we got married and have now been married for 21 years.

We were meant to be together. By the time we finally married, we knew eachother so well that there were no surprises. We both knew what we were getting and to be real honest, I don't think anyone else would have either one of us! But we fit together like puzzle pieces.

You've heard of "Me Tarzan, you Jane." Well, that's not us. I'm Olive Oyl and Ival, well he's Elmer Fudd. The only vacation we've ever gone on where he couldn't kill something once we got there was when we took the kids to Disneyland and Sea World when they were young. I had a really hard time finding a picture of him without something dead in the picture too.
But Ival loves me and the kids unconditionally. He's the proudest father and grandpa I've ever seen. Family means everything to him. I couldn't have asked for anyone better to take care of me when I was going through cancer treatments. He basically treats me like a queen. But, he is Elmer Fudd. When we first moved to Hidden Springs, Ival was out in the yard one day boiling an animal skull. If you want to keep a skull, you have to boil all the yucky stuff off of it - and it STINKS! One of the neighbors walked out and yelled "What are you cooking? It sure smells good!" Oh dear God, if only he'd known what was cooking - and who had moved in next door.
But now, everyone in Hidden Springs knows Ival. He doesn't know a stranger. In fact, someday he says he's going to be the Mayor here. Hey, that would be cool, then EVERYONE could have chickens and other farm animals in their backyards!
I have to admit, I truly look forward to the day we can retire together. We'll be up on an acreage, with a little home, lots and lots of farm animals and right near a river where Ival can step out the back door to hunt and fish. Yep, he's Elmer Fudd - but he's mine! (poor fox)

5 comments:

kate said...

At the risk of hearing "You just shit in your own nest, sister!" I have to tell my favorite Ival story: Ival is a man who can skin and clean a huge animal, up to his armpits in blood and guts and god knows what else and it doesn't phase him in the least. But one time, he walked into the living room barefoot and stepped in a fresh pile of dog poop...and the gag reflex started almost immediately and he had to run and BARF!! Oh man, I thought Linda and I were gonna pee our pants....

hahahahahaha

LOVE YOU, IVAL!!

Dee said...

Yup, Ival loves to kill things and its got to be the biggest and the greatest---no critter is safe---except that pesky racoon. But Ival is the most caring, loving, lovable guy ! He is such a family man, worries about everyone, and will give family his last penny and his time and slave labor ( especially after Jodi volunteers him for the darndest things---involving hard work ). When Ival married Jodi, he also got her brother ! They're buddies who accept each other for who they are !

We all love Ival, he's always planning a family community where everyone lives on this compound and we shut out the rest of the world. ----OK, Ival but only if we can get the Bronco games !

kate said...

I didn't know that you and Ival dated after every divorce!! Geez, he was like a bad rash that kept comin' back, wasn't he??

Linda said...

Yea, I was a cool buddy in jr. high and high school. We could go places together and I'd point out girls for him, and he'd find UGLY guys for me. We had fun.

I've also never seen ANYONE take on someone else's kids as his own the way Ival does. A person would never know that Jacki and Jake have other fathers too. Ival seems like the one and only.

Yea, he's a pretty good guy. But I'd never admit that to HIM! No way! Hu uh!

kate said...

Next installment! Next installment!!

You can't do this next one without crying, can you??