Heart Attack Scare, Broken Down Car, and The Last Straw

Yesterday, my fiancee Antonio had a horrible, no good, awful day. We're talking nuclear. Antonio is an incredibly strong, steady man.

He gets up every morning at 4:30am to be to work at 5 am every day, but Tuesdays and Thursdays. On those days, he gets up at 7 am to go to classes where he's studying Photography full time. The rest of his time is spent either being a father or taking care of me.

He's a really good man.

He'll have been up since 4:30 am, but I'll say I'm tired and he immediately comes over and cooks dinner. It's ridiculous. And heavenly.

So when I got his phone call yesterday, my heart leapt.

He called at noon and just said, "I'm at the instacare across from work. I'm having really bad chest pains." I closed up the office for an early lunch and ran to the instacare.

On the drive, I passed a high school and began making plans. If he dies and we're not married, I would work out custody with his mother. I want to raise Daniel, whether I have a legal claim to him or not. I thought about Daniel growing up. I began imagining the life I would have without him. But rather than be sad, I became warrior like. I was in go mode. There was a problem, and I didn't have time to cry.

As I pulled up into the parking lot, he walked out of the door to greet me. Seeing him on his feet, I broke down into a puddle of tears. I cried like a baby on his shoulder. He told he that it was just inflammation of his ribs due to repetitive lifting.

We grabbed lunch together and then he went to fill his prescription for the anti-inflammatory meds and I went back to work.

Ten minutes later I got a phone call. His car wouldn't start.

He borrowed my car to pick up Daniel from school and finish his projects for school. No biggie. What's mine is his and I wasn't going anywhere. Problem solved.

He came over for Family Home Evening last night. We talked about honesty. We tried to sing a song about being honest, read the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf, tried to get Daniel to color a picture and watched him bounce from the counter to the stool to the couch to the stairs. The child was on one last night. Finally, we all sat down around the kitchen table and Antonio started doing math with Daniel. He began drawing equations and teaching him.

We began teaching Daniel about patterns. If 5+5=10 and 6 is one more than 5, then 5+6= one more than 10. It was fun watching his brain make the connections and see the patterns. Then Antonio began drawing shapes and having him identify the shapes. (I just watched because I don't know shapes.)

After a bit, I took Daniel out to play in the front yard with Atticus. We climbed on the rock and did cartwheels and wheelbarrows around the lawn.

When it was time to go, Daniel wasn't having it. He fought both of us tooth and nail. We cajoled, threatened, bargained. Everything.

I think Daniel is more ready for us to be married than we are. We've been trying to make the transition from one house to another smooth, so we have his bed up and his chore chart on the wall.

The other night, he took his bath here before heading back home. As hard as it is, we both feel like a transition like this is going to be rough for a 6 year old. And we want to make coming home to my place something he feels at home with.

This kind of back fired last night.

After finally getting him into the car, Antonio dropped the keys to my (our) car down the sewage drain. I was up in the apartment so I didn't see it happen. It's sometimes easier to get Daniel to cooperate if I'm not watching.

The phone rang and I saw that it was Antonio. I picked up the phone and heard this strong, steady man crying. I laughed. I didn't mean to, but I felt like the only decent reaction was to find the humor in the horrible horrible situation. I laughed at the adventure of it all.

Pangs in the chest, one car broken down, and keys down the sewer? The only thing to do is laugh. (That's the Irish in me.)

I came down stairs and staired into the drainage with him.

Together, Daniel and I prayed that Daddy would be able to get the keys out and that he would know how much we loved him. Together, we watched as Antonio lifted the grate off with a pick axe and went to work. I realized it was a good 30 minutes past Daniel's bed time and sent him upstairs to lay down. Then I held the phone aloft (I need to get a flashlight) while Antonio went through several tools to try and get the keys up. He took off his shirt and lifted up bits of water into a bucket. Draining the drain, little by little.

As I sat with him on the concrete and watched him work tirelessly, I was overwhelmed with love. He is such a good man. He works so hard! Finally, he lifted the keys out of the water with a rake.

Daniel came down and proclaimed that he had not gone to bed (shocker) but that he had colored an entire Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle! (See pic above).

I told Antonio to take me to the Walgreens where his car was parked to see if our luck had changed. When we got there, his car started right up.

Daniel hopped into his (our) Honda. Before Antonio got into the car, he gave me a long kiss and both of us felt this peace about getting married. We can get through anything. I absolutely believe that.

More than ever, I am so happy I get to marry this amazing man. If he dies, I will kill him.