Interview

As anyone who has been here knows, I don’t do surveys. It’s just a personal thing. However, one of my favorites had this “interview” on her page. The rules follow. What intrigued me is that it is not a survey – these five questions come from someone who has been reading here for months and knows me as well as pretty much anyone else on FOD.

I printed out these questions this morning and thought about them all day. Rather than a quick answer, I really wanted to do them justice. So, here goes…

1. What initially attracted you to your spouse? What keeps the two of you together?

Initially, it was lust. The first time I really saw him (I’d seen him around, but had never really looked at him) was one morning in formation. He was standing in the rank behind mine and to my right. Right before we were called to attention he made some smart remark, and I thought he was such a jerk. We were given a right face to march off to class; this put him in the file next to mine and caddy-corner to the right in front of me. He carried his books in a standard ruck sack, over his shoulder. What first caught my attention was his walk, his jaunty little swagger; he was confidence, strength, life itself, and I decided right then I wanted him for my own. Later, I found out underneath the muscle, he was brilliant, funny and sensitive.

To be entirely honest, we are still together due to a combination of things. I am very well aware that my husband is not domesticated; much like a cat, he hangs around and lets everyone think he’s domesticated, but could decide to take off into the wide world at any minute. He stays out of a parental obligation to our daughter and his great love for her. Though the gauntlet of divorce has been thrown down on several occasions, we stay married partly because of my stubbornness and refusal to give up on the commitment we made and partly because of his inability to take the final step. Deep down inside he knows that I love him and I am his home and, though he may roam, he will always come home.

2. What is the greatest obstacle you have overcome so far in your life?

This was a really hard question. I have never thought of events or limitations as obstacles. Things have happened that have led me down different roads than I ever imagined being on, but as I have never had a solid destination, they couldn’t be really considered obstacles. I guess I have been fortunate to have had no major catastrophes in my life. I am not trying to avoid the question, just trying to prepare you for my lame answer. I guess the unexpected birth of my daughter (I did expect her for 9 months or so, but the initial pregnancy test was quite the shocker) could be considered an obstacle. It caused me to place my career and my education on the back burner. Still, in spite of being a young mother, I finished my degree and caught up with my professional peers (and passed them). I was lucky enough to hold interesting and rewarding positions, despite following my husband from assignment to assignment and caring for our daughter. Still, it wasn’t really an obstacle, because out of the deal I ended up with a totally different life and a beautiful daughter (see, I’m right back at the start of the question.)

3. What is my greatest fear?

On the surface, this is an easy question. I am terrified of anything unpleasant happening to my daughter. When we go to the amusement park, I ride in the seat by myself – leaving my husband to ride with my daughter (so he can grab her if she looks like she’s going to fall out). I know I spoil her, trying to make sure she goes to every event she wants to go to, suffers no disappointment or hardship, has every opportunity. But, in truth, my husband is right. Those are normal fears that every parent has. I am personally terrified of failure and of being wrong. My credibility and reputation are important to me; they make me. Failure diminishes me.

4. If you knew you could not fail, what would you attempt to do?

I would write the “Great American Novel,” a highly acclaimed, Nobel Prize winning, soul searching, mind blowing piece of verbal art, guaranteed to make you want to read it again and again.

5. If you had to live in another time and place, when and where would you go?

This was a tough one. My husband thinks perhaps in the Ancient World somewhere, but really most people in the ancient world led miserable lives, full of disease, starvation, and warfare. If I had to live in the PAST, I would select Poland during the reign of Queen Jadwiga and King Jageillo (still full of disease, starvation, and warfare). I would be a knight and help defeat the Teutonic Knights and bring Christianity peacefully to Lithuania. I would rather live in the FUTURE, a Star Trek-y future where humans have stopped killing one another and live together on this planet in peace. I would chose to live in space and see the wonders of the universe. And, I would always bring my towel.

THE RULES!

1) Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.

2) I will respond; I’ll ask you five questions.

3) You’ll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.

4) You’ll include this explanation.

5) You’ll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.