The DH steps in.....

In baseball, the “DH” stands for “Designated Hitter”, a player who doesn’t play defense on the field but plays offense and only comes to bat, usually for the pitcher. In the world of adoption lingo the “DH” stands for “Dear Husband.” Tonight I am playing both roles for my “DW” (Dear Wife) as I step in to bat for my wife and give her a night off from her usual duties of recording the happenings of our lives in this blog. So, here I am for only the second time since the beginning of Lori’s magnificent journey of recording the life and times of our family. The first time I stepped to the plate was in China, to relief my exhausted wife, who just traveled half way around the world by plane and she isn’t the most comfortable on a plane, then experiencing the life changing event of receiving Ethan who was in so much need of love and caring. Being the kind of guy who just handles whatever is thrown at me (for better or worse) I wasn’t quite up to speed with the caring of a grieving baby, I was just following along. For that reason it wasn’t as draining for me as it was for Lori. But I digress off my point, I had to fill in that night because we had so many people back at home in the US who were hanging on every little tidbit of information that we were able to get out of China and into the hearts of our friends and family back home. It was fun to be part of the “blog” thing and describe our experience in China. Tonight however I am now rethinking my promise to Lori about stepping in but I am a man of my word. So bear with me as I answer one of the questions asked by one of you last night at Lori’s request for post ideas.

Lori and I met on the Internet… not on a dating site but while Lori was shopping for a DJ for her upcoming holiday party at work and performed a search for one in the nearby area. This lead her to me and after a pleasant conversation about my services as a DJ, we realized we had a mutual friend in common, who was a childhood friend of mine from NJ now living in the same town as me in Florida, and was also someone that Lori had dated. We made a “date” to meet each other at a local nightclub to see where this conversation could go. This is where the first problem of the night arose. There I was waiting to meet a blind date and all I had to go on was a picture of Lori that she had sent to me of her and her sister. After what seemed like a lifetime, a woman stepped out of the club and looked around the parking lot as if she too was looking for someone. I quietly asked “Are you Lori?, she smirked and said “No, I’m not but I guess you’re here on a blind date” and I told her I was. Now I went back to waiting, now thinking that she stood me up (not the first time this had happened to me on a blind date, but that story will stay with me.) Thinking it was time to call it quits, my cell phone rang and there was Lori on the other end asking me where I was and did I stand her up? I told her that I was standing at the entrance to the club that I had been to many times before and I didn’t see her. She said she was also standing at the entrance and that she had been here many times before and this is where she entered. I said that I was under the blue lights that say the name of the club, and she said she was too! Now I am becoming paranoid thinking she in a car with friends watching me and having a good laugh at this poor soul waiting to meet her. As I started to pace the sidewalk talking to Lori on the other end, I turned the corner of the sidewalk and low and behold there was another entrance to the club and Lori talking to me on the phone; this gave us both a good laugh and now the date could start. We went inside after laughing for a few minutes and were seated at a table so that we (or I could have something to eat as I just came from a gig). Problem number two was about to start. I ordered Fried Ravioli and Lori ordered a diet coke. As I took the first bite, hot molten cheese shot out and landed on Lori’s arm and let me tell you in was hot as I could barely eat it. Being the cool calm girl that Lori is, she just wiped it off and went on with the conversation as if nothing happened, boy is she a trooper. This actually happened not once but twice! After apologizing a few times we went on. Problem three was lurking nearby as the woman that I had first asked outside if she was Lori was seated right behind Lori and now leaned into our booth to ask Lori how the blind date was going and she was glad to see we finally found each other outside. As the night progressed our unwanted guest kept asking how things were going and to my pleasure Lori would say “great.” So to make this long story short, Lori didn’t have a holiday party with a DJ that year and it wasn’t until we were in a relationship that I got the chance to perform at her party. As you all know this story has a happy ending (well actually it’s only in the middle), we have a great family and friends that we wouldn’t trade for the world.

In closing of this temporary bump in the smooth road, I want to publicly say to Lori how much I love her and appreciate the hard work and patience that goes into the making of this blog and that I know how much her children will treasure this valuable and heartfelt gift. I apologize to you the reader for tuning in tonight and realizing that an amateur had stepped in to bat for the homerun hitter.

Lori will return to her regularly scheduled writing tomorrow.

This is a picture that I took of Lori soon after we began dating. I dedicate this post to my beautiful wife.