“I’ve never really been able to exactly capture my love for Christine with words… It’s the strangest thing to feel so strongly for someone and be incapable of expressing it with the proper verbiage. So I’ve come up with a strategy… I promised that every day I would do everything in my power to show her just how much she means to me in all of my actions since I couldn’t write it down (very frustrating when you enjoy reading/writing the way that I do).
I think I’ve always known exactly what I wanted in my Mrs. Right, but no one ever really expects to find someone with even half of those qualities…there were even points when I felt like this elusive “love” was not even a real emotion, but I’m here to tell every single person reading this… IT EXISTS! She keeps me smiling, she convinced me to go back and finish school, she helped me get the amazing job that I love more than any I’ve ever had before, for Christmas she buys me awesome tools to fix stuff with, and she even learns how to play Modern Warfare 3 so we can sit on the couch and play together… We’re still working on the learning how to cook, but 99 out of 100 is good enough for me! What I’m trying to get at here is that she is basically the BEST person I have ever had the honor of knowing in my entire life, and what’s even more awesome is that I get to experience life with her now, and it only took me 24 years to find her… that’s a freaking deal!
I don’t really like sad stuff, sometimes just watching those drama filled shows on TV that women eat up drives me crazy, so I was pretty destroyed when she had been not feeling well for a week and it was only getting worse. The night before we were originally supposed to head to Austin for my 26th birthday weekend extravaganza, we ended up in the ER, and 3 days before I turned 26, I found out my Mrs. Had a “mass” in her brain stem, and that it was inoperable… All I really remember after I got the status update phone call was calling my dad crying… and he gave me the best advice I think he’s ever given me… He told me that now more than ever I needed to gather myself and my strength and be there for Christine, because she needed me more than ever in order to keep her positive. Almost immediately it sank in, the tears got turned off, and I was on my way to stand by her side, the way she has always done for me.
We weren’t satisfied with “it’s inoperable” so we looked to her uncle (who is an amazing hair restoration surgeon) for some advice, and he got a recommendation to head to Hermann where there was a top notch neurology center. This was all taking place on my Birthday… I still remember heading up to the hospital as they were about to transfer her, and her crying while she told me happy birthday, and just having to hold her hand and wipe her tears while her eyes jumped around… Let me tell you, if it weren’t for that talk with my dad I would have crumbled into a million pieces on that day, but I let her know that all that mattered was her getting better. That night she arrived at Hermann and they were preparing to do a much more detailed MRI on her brain to see if we had any chance of helping her. I remember coming home and just holding our cat Andie, and making my birthday wish. If there were only one thing I could have wanted at that point, it was that they would run this new MRI and tell us it could be operated on. Wish was locked in, and I slept.
The next day I was at work and her mom called me with the best news possible, it could be operated on, but it was going to be a risky brain surgery. Christine was scared, but I reassured her that this was the news we had been hoping for. Dr. Day (world’s greatest doctor for saving my Mrs.’ Life) came in and gave us a lot of information to consider before choosing whether or not to have the surgery, and then it was up to us to decide. No decision any one expects to be making at ages 24 and 26. The surgery was done on a Friday, I’m unsure of dates at this point; it just seems like a blur of waking up, trying to make it through work, and then going to the hospital. It was a grueling 9 hours, and I was exhausted because I hadn’t been able to sleep the night before, but the surgery was a success, and so I updated her Facebook and mine with the superb news. Facebook was an invaluable asset during this time as a way of generating lots of love, prayers, and support while explaining what was going on in a single post rather than a millions phone calls and text messages.
Life kind of stopped for a month, but I am happy to report that as I type this, my beautiful wifey-to-be is sitting on the couch, nice and comfy, in our apartment, for the first time in over a month. Not having that in over a month makes me appreciate its simplicity so much more.
So now we have a month of our lives stolen away, hopefully to regain a long and healthy life together. I hope that all of you that read this really sit back and appreciate the little things in life, and live each day as if it were your last.
The financial burden is incoming, and I’m terrified of that, but I’m hoping it will all find a way to work itself out. (Please help us in any way that you can.) We still have a wedding reception to afford also! As long as I have her I know it is going to be just fine, but I really want those eye balls to stop bouncing around… it is a constant reminder of a really dark point in my life… It was like a cruel punishment to wait and look for so long for the one you couldn’t be without, and then have to face the fact that they might be taken from you by no fault of your own.”
- Opie, Christine’s Fiancé & soon-to-be Husband
written by Opie the night of 3/3/2012
a Christine and Opie at RA Sushi for a friend’s birthday before any of this ever happened.
Opie and Christine thrilled to share their engagement with Christine’s family at an impromptu dinner just after their engagement weekend in Galveston. May 2011. Can you see the joy, happiness, excitement, and pure love? I can.
Opie and Christine early on in their relationship enjoying a wonderful time at the Houston Astros Astroline events with great friends and family.
Christine loving on her man after a great night at Howl at the Moon where they hosted a happy hour party for all their friends and family.
