Before I go into detail on the event that precipitated the MLC journey, I need to furnish some background information beforehand so you will understand better the dynamics between Ms. Wonka and I prior to the event.
Ms. Wonka and I knew each other only superficially as undergraduates at a college we both attended. It consisted mainly of “hi, hello” as we passed by each other on campus. Coincidentally, we both entered graduate school during the same year. I had worked two years prior to entering graduate school and Ms. Wonka went straight to grad school after graduation.
We began dating in the Fall of 1994. In total, we had been together for 5 years before MLC hit me in May of 1999 and we already were puppy parents to our dog and cat that had been raised since 8 weeks old in 1996.
In the early Spring of 1999, Ms. Wonka and I traveled to Europe in what was our first overseas trip as a couple. Her parents, sister and BIL all joined us on the trip. We spent the first 3 days in Amsterdam before we split to go our separate ways. Ms. Wonka and I traveled Western Europe for 12 days while the other group went to France. It was a very happy period for Ms. Wonka and I taking in some amazing cultural experiences with some hot randy stuff in between. At the end of the trip, we met up again in Amsterdam to fly back to the States.
After returning back from Europe in mid-March 1999, I returned to my office to prepare for a regional "Brainaic" tourney for high schoolers that preceded the national competition that the college, for whom I was working for at that time, was the primary host. FUN!
All’s well in my happy little world with Ms. Wonka.
Then one day I get a call in my office in late April 1999 that informed me of my paternal grandmother’s passing away. That left me utterly and profoundly shocked to the core despite the fact that I ‘knew’ intellectually it was her time since her mind and body had gone south at the age of 97.
Very slowly I got up from my desk and walked out of the building without any memory of how my legs moved that day. I walked and walked and walked around the campus bathed in the afternoon sun trying to get grips on my inner world that seemed to inexorably spin out of control. My whole system seemed to slowly shut down---one by one.
A few days after the phone call, my grandmother’s funeral (early May 1999) took place with all of her extended family members as she was the family matriarch in which my cousins acted as the pall bearers. I did not attend her funeral because of work obligations due to the fact that I was the primary project investigator in coordinating a large scale project for a K-12 educational institution that entailed a comprehensive program review of that particular school that included running focus groups of students, school personnel and administration.
To say I was utterly lost at that time is an understatement. Growing up, I frequently visited my grandparents and would sometimes stay over their house during the weekends. My grandmother and I had an exceptionally close bond. At the time of my grandmother’s death, my grandfather had already preceded her in death by 10 years.
