When I was much younger, I dreamed of the day I would find "Mr. Right" and spend the rest of my life with him. There were various guys I "liked" in high school and then also in college, however, none of them were "the one".
Through a couple of friends, I finally met HIM, we began dating, and not long after that we married. I thought my life was complete and my heart was full that 26th day of March in 1983 when I became Mrs. Jeffrey Berges.
A year-and-a-half later we welcomed our first son, Ben, into this world on September 24, 1984. Again, I thought my heart was full. Then three-and-a-half years later, our other son was born on February 26, 1988. Once again, my heart continued to fill.
From the moment our first son was born, my thoughts began to look to the future. Who would marry each of our boys? What was she going to be like? Would she have the type of personality to match his? Would they have the same likes and values? Would they be happy? I don't know about Jeff, but I thought about this a great deal and prayed about this even more.
To our joy, Ben married the love of his life, Danielle, on April 12, 2008 and Alex married the love of his life, Madeleine, on October 3, 2015. We couldn't have chosen any better for each of the boys than they did. Of course, I do believe that God was the reason for them meeting each other as these two "girls" of mine were the two I had begun praying for even before they were born. So, on October 3, 2015, when our youngest got married, my heart was finally full.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, my heart is already full to the brim, I find that I will now move from just being a wife, mom, and mother-in-law to the coveted title of Grandma, a title I have waited to have for quite a while. With the upcoming birth of the first grandchild, Paisley, my heart is no longer just full, but is overflowing. It is overflowing with the love of my husband, sons, daughters-in-love, and now a granddaughter.
God has blessed my life by filling my heart and my life with His love. His blessings continue as my heart now overflows with his love for me and my love for this new life. I hope and pray that my heart will continue to overflow with more of His blessings.
Monday, November 9, 2015
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Becoming a Berges
For the past several months, our almost daughter-in-love has posted pictures of herself after going for a run, pictures of creating some of the decorations for the wedding, and pictures of her and Alex. As she posts them, she always includes the hashtag "becoming a berges". Since it is 4 days until she actually does become a Berges, I thought I'd jot down a few things about what it is to become a Berges.
When you become a Berges, you are joining a small yet mighty group of people who love each other immensely. We may have our differences from time to time, but we will ALWAYS be there for each other, love each other unconditionally, and support each other in times of joy and sorrow. Of course, this is true of many families, but becoming a Berges involves a great deal of love.
I became a Berges a little more than 32 years ago. I really didn't know what that would involve as no one really told me about the Berges family, their idiosyncrasies, history, craziness, and devotion. It would take many years to learn about all of this and to be honest I don't think I know as much about their history as I would like.
So, I have spent the past 33 years (we dated for a year before we married) learning about and trying to understand why my husband Jeff is the way that he is. He does have some of each of his parents in him, he is also a very unique man. He has a quirky sense of humor, knows a great deal of trivia (he really does know a lot but doesn't give himself much credit), and will help anyone at anytime. Once we had our boys, he became the most devoted dad I have ever seen. From the time they were able to move at all, he would take them outside, go for walks, throw the baseball or football, ride bikes, and do anything for them. He is fiercely protective and he is one of the most sensitive men ever. He cries at commercials and movies yet gets angry at some of the silliest things.
Each of our boys has so many of his qualities (and even some qualities of their now deceased grandfather (Berk). Where Ben is incredibly outspoken, Alex is much more reserved. Regardless of their individual qualities, they both have many of the wonderful qualities of their dad; devotion, quirky sense of humor, and immense love for those who are important in their lives.
These two boys are the last men in this small group of Berges men. Those of us women who have been blessed to become their wife, their life mate, their forever friend, join a group of women who have come before us who also went through the process of becoming a Berges. I don't know if they had anyone to help them through the process or not. Becoming a Berges means you are joining a small group of women who have willingly changed their last name to Berges for this man that you love more than words can say.
So, to both of our daughter-in-love, not only have our men been blessed because we are part of their lives, but we are also blessed because they are part of our lives. Danielle and I have already become a Berges: Madeleine, you will join us on Saturday. Welcome to our small group and I'm glad you said "Yes" and decided to become a Berges.
When you become a Berges, you are joining a small yet mighty group of people who love each other immensely. We may have our differences from time to time, but we will ALWAYS be there for each other, love each other unconditionally, and support each other in times of joy and sorrow. Of course, this is true of many families, but becoming a Berges involves a great deal of love.
I became a Berges a little more than 32 years ago. I really didn't know what that would involve as no one really told me about the Berges family, their idiosyncrasies, history, craziness, and devotion. It would take many years to learn about all of this and to be honest I don't think I know as much about their history as I would like.
So, I have spent the past 33 years (we dated for a year before we married) learning about and trying to understand why my husband Jeff is the way that he is. He does have some of each of his parents in him, he is also a very unique man. He has a quirky sense of humor, knows a great deal of trivia (he really does know a lot but doesn't give himself much credit), and will help anyone at anytime. Once we had our boys, he became the most devoted dad I have ever seen. From the time they were able to move at all, he would take them outside, go for walks, throw the baseball or football, ride bikes, and do anything for them. He is fiercely protective and he is one of the most sensitive men ever. He cries at commercials and movies yet gets angry at some of the silliest things.
Each of our boys has so many of his qualities (and even some qualities of their now deceased grandfather (Berk). Where Ben is incredibly outspoken, Alex is much more reserved. Regardless of their individual qualities, they both have many of the wonderful qualities of their dad; devotion, quirky sense of humor, and immense love for those who are important in their lives.
These two boys are the last men in this small group of Berges men. Those of us women who have been blessed to become their wife, their life mate, their forever friend, join a group of women who have come before us who also went through the process of becoming a Berges. I don't know if they had anyone to help them through the process or not. Becoming a Berges means you are joining a small group of women who have willingly changed their last name to Berges for this man that you love more than words can say.
So, to both of our daughter-in-love, not only have our men been blessed because we are part of their lives, but we are also blessed because they are part of our lives. Danielle and I have already become a Berges: Madeleine, you will join us on Saturday. Welcome to our small group and I'm glad you said "Yes" and decided to become a Berges.
Friday, February 13, 2015
Dream Vacation - Chapter 2 - We Finally Arrived
Well, we finally made it on the plane after a missed flight, being put on stand-by and then not allowed to board, and a cancelled flight. I wasn't going to really believe it until we backed away from the gate, taxied to the runway, and actually took off. It took us a great while to get everyone boarded so I was still skeptical. I couldn't see out the window as my row neighbor had the window seat and had the shade completely closed plus she was asleep. How dare she! Didn't she know how important it was for me to be able to see that we were REALLY going to be taking off!!?? Turns out I didn't need to open the shade as I could hear the engines and feel the plane moving. Yes!! We were finally on our way!!
It seemed like we had just taken off when the flight attendants were suddenly offering us dinner. It's really kind of amazing how quickly they can get meals to the hundreds of people who are on a HUGE plane but they do. So as we eat we also browse through the multitude of movies, TV shows, and music that are available for us to enjoy during the flight (it is 5-1/2 hours long).
Dinner is over and it's getting late. Our seats are in the 2nd row in business class right by the bathroom for this area of the plane so it becomes very busy. Also, because we are in the 2nd row of business class, we can see into First Class. They each have individual pods similar to what you might see on the movie "Inception". Later in the night I would come to wish we were in First Class.
So, as I said, dinner is over, people are all taking their bathroom breaks, and everyone is watching movies until ready to try to sleep. Have you ever tried to sleep on a very large, very loud plane with hundreds of people on it? Even though the flight attendants turn down the lights in the cabin, many people are still watching their individual monitors as well as the large monitors in the front of the cabin that monitor the flight path. Thankfully, I brought along ear plugs as well as a sleeping mask to blackout the light. I also brought along a pair of socks to wear during the flight to keep my feet warm. It's always cold on airplanes!
I was amazed that I actually slept, even if it was for a short time. As soon as we woke up it was time for breakfast (didn't we just eat dinner?). We all quickly ate, people quickly used the restroom (there was a mass of people in our area), and then it was time to prepare for landing. Really?! Are we finally going to be landing in London? It is now Monday morning about 6:30 am London time - 8 hours ahead of home. We've missed a lot of sleep over the past 3 days and we missed some important tours. As I said, it is now Monday...we were supposed to have arrived here on Saturday morning. If we had arrived on Saturday as we had been planned, we would have traveled to Cottswald on Sunday and toured a quintessential English village. Monday's trip was the hardest one to miss. Again, if we had arrived on Saturday, we would now have been getting up and getting ready for our trip to Paris. We were going to take a train to Paris via the Chunnel (the tunnel under the English Channel). Not only would we have seen the Louvre, but also the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, and Notre Dam. Alas, we didn't. Maybe another trip.
We gather out things and file out of the plane (directly through First Class and see the small, yet much more comfortable than our regular seats, sleeping quarters they had with sheets and blankets. Then it was on to immigration, find out luggage, convert some of our money, and then on to find the express train from Heathrow to Paddington Station (yes, we went to Paddington Station!).
Once we got to the station it was just about 2-3 blocks we had to walk to get to the apartment where we would stay for 3 nights. We were tired. We were hungry (even though we had breakfast on the plane). We get to the apartment, in the front door, and begin climbing the stairs to our apartment. Little did we know that it was on the top floor, probably had been the attic area when these row houses were single family homes. Now they are split into multiple apartments. Anyway, we begin climbing and climbing and climbing. Finally, 96 steps later we reached it dragging our suitcase, weighted down by our 2 carry-ons, exhausted.
It seemed like we had just taken off when the flight attendants were suddenly offering us dinner. It's really kind of amazing how quickly they can get meals to the hundreds of people who are on a HUGE plane but they do. So as we eat we also browse through the multitude of movies, TV shows, and music that are available for us to enjoy during the flight (it is 5-1/2 hours long).
Dinner is over and it's getting late. Our seats are in the 2nd row in business class right by the bathroom for this area of the plane so it becomes very busy. Also, because we are in the 2nd row of business class, we can see into First Class. They each have individual pods similar to what you might see on the movie "Inception". Later in the night I would come to wish we were in First Class.
So, as I said, dinner is over, people are all taking their bathroom breaks, and everyone is watching movies until ready to try to sleep. Have you ever tried to sleep on a very large, very loud plane with hundreds of people on it? Even though the flight attendants turn down the lights in the cabin, many people are still watching their individual monitors as well as the large monitors in the front of the cabin that monitor the flight path. Thankfully, I brought along ear plugs as well as a sleeping mask to blackout the light. I also brought along a pair of socks to wear during the flight to keep my feet warm. It's always cold on airplanes!
I was amazed that I actually slept, even if it was for a short time. As soon as we woke up it was time for breakfast (didn't we just eat dinner?). We all quickly ate, people quickly used the restroom (there was a mass of people in our area), and then it was time to prepare for landing. Really?! Are we finally going to be landing in London? It is now Monday morning about 6:30 am London time - 8 hours ahead of home. We've missed a lot of sleep over the past 3 days and we missed some important tours. As I said, it is now Monday...we were supposed to have arrived here on Saturday morning. If we had arrived on Saturday as we had been planned, we would have traveled to Cottswald on Sunday and toured a quintessential English village. Monday's trip was the hardest one to miss. Again, if we had arrived on Saturday, we would now have been getting up and getting ready for our trip to Paris. We were going to take a train to Paris via the Chunnel (the tunnel under the English Channel). Not only would we have seen the Louvre, but also the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, and Notre Dam. Alas, we didn't. Maybe another trip.
We gather out things and file out of the plane (directly through First Class and see the small, yet much more comfortable than our regular seats, sleeping quarters they had with sheets and blankets. Then it was on to immigration, find out luggage, convert some of our money, and then on to find the express train from Heathrow to Paddington Station (yes, we went to Paddington Station!).
Once we got to the station it was just about 2-3 blocks we had to walk to get to the apartment where we would stay for 3 nights. We were tired. We were hungry (even though we had breakfast on the plane). We get to the apartment, in the front door, and begin climbing the stairs to our apartment. Little did we know that it was on the top floor, probably had been the attic area when these row houses were single family homes. Now they are split into multiple apartments. Anyway, we begin climbing and climbing and climbing. Finally, 96 steps later we reached it dragging our suitcase, weighted down by our 2 carry-ons, exhausted.
Inside we inspect the apartment, checkout the beds, determine who will sleep where, unpack some of our things, and decide we need to go get something to eat. So, we head back down the 96 steps to find food and get a few groceries as we planned to eat breakfast at the apartment each day. We walk back to Paddington Station, find a restaurant, sit down, and wait, and wait, and wait. No one comes to wait on us so Connie walked into the bar area and we find that it's kind of a self order and self serve place. Needless to say, we were too tired to do that. We decided to find a grocery store to pick up a few things for breakfast. Thankfully there was one within Paddington Station. Then we walked out onto the street to find a place to get a quick bite. You won't believe this, but our first meal in London was from McDonalds. Yes, McDonalds. We got it to go and went back to the apartment, once again walking up the 96 steps. We ate and then all took a well deserved nap.
Once we awoke from our nap, we sat around the apartment until around dinner time and then wandered down the steps once again to find someplace to eat dinner. We opted for an "American" style restaurant called Garfunkels for this first night. We decided we would become more Londonized tomorrow. Finishing our first dinner in London, we wearily walked back to the apartment (96 steps), spent a little bit of time unwinding, and then went to bed early. Even though we had all had a nice nap, we were still dragging.
Alarms were set (we had our first tour the next day to see the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and St. Paul's Cathedral). As we settled in for the night we could finally rest easy and well as we had finally arrived...
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