The phone rang and my daughter Allison was on the phone crying. Well, that isn't usually a good sign, but considering that it was Valentine's Day and considering I'd had lunch with her boyfriend a few weeks ago and he asked for my blessings (very traditional and I loved it) it wasn't too big a mystery what she was crying about.
When I moved here in 1993 and started working at KDWB, Allison was a year and a half old. If you've listened for awhile, you remember me talking about her a lot. The cute little things she said and did. The Beanie Babies, the Polly Pockets, the time I took her on The Log Ride at Mall of America and it scared her so bad she wouldln't go on ANY ride again for two years. The Aaron Carter concert she got so excited at that she got sick and had to go home. The saxophone she never practiced. The piano she rarely practiced. The lead in the 8th grade musical. Failing her driver's license test when she was 16, and telling her friends it was my fault because I'd forgotten some insurance form. (I hadn't) Her first broken heart, our mutual love of The Beatles, and "Oklahoma!" Her grades and achievements at Chaska and St. Thomas. The fact that she laughs exactly like her 70 year old Aunt Linda.
And now this. Her fiancee' is a great person. They're the perfect balance. They don't need to hang on each other to prove they love each other. They appreciate their time apart. They love their new cat. They're funny. He puts up with her going to bed at 9 on a Friday night and she puts up with his love of all things Vikings.
Congratulations Allison (And Justin!) I'm so proud of you! Not just for for this, but everything you do.