Today, we are celebrating my sweet beautiful wife Jennifer’s birthday. I realize that the day we are physically born is our only birthday, but I’m glad that most of us have fun celebrating each other’s special day every year. I take a ton of pleasure, each time I share how Jennifer and I met. We then married in about three years. Here is our true story. Our Heavenly Father answers many prayers. I used to pray to find a kind, loving wife and in return, I promised to be a faithful, loving husband. My parents also prayed for this void to be filled in my life. In July 2000, while living in Dallas and employed with Bank of America and KISS-FM radio, our prayers were answered. A letter addressed to me was placed in my KISS-FM mailbox prior to my Saturday and Sunday weekend shifts. Jennifer Gable, a longtime fan of my radio show, was the writer. She did not know her favorite disc jockey was totally blind. Since I could not read her letter, I asked my assistant to do the honors. Though I could not see my partner’s face, I could tell by the excitement in Heather’s voice as she read to me this letter was a keeper. I soon found out that Jennifer was a keeper as well! In the letter, Jennifer told me about herself including her occupation, high school and the reasons she enjoyed tuning in to my radio show. She was a six-year listener. I was excited that she exerted extra effort composing such a nice letter for me. Her letter changed our lives and will be kept close to my heart for the rest of my life. Full of intrigue and excitement, I quickly dictated a response. We soon began talking on the phone and I informed her I was completely blind. Jennifer is sighted, which encouraged me all the more as my condition did not bother her. She took the news just fine and knew that I was not teasing her, as this would have been a silly subject for me to fabricate since she would soon find out for herself. Within a few weeks of chatting, we decided to meet in person. My friend Jason drove me to meet her. Her open-mindedness made me want to roll out the red carpet for her. My goal for that evening was to provide a fun first impression that would leave Jennifer a fond memory to treasure for the rest of her life. We had dinner at Chili’s restaurant for our first date. Jason was very enthusiastic about driving us. While he was excited about meeting Jennifer and I together, he received an extra boost of motivation from the free meal he received for serving as the evening’s chauffeur. I’m eternally grateful to Jason for his help, which in due course turned out to be even more meaningful than I imagined it would be. Our ride to the restaurant was exciting as we became acquainted with one another. Jennifer quickly noticed I was “handi-capable,” thank goodness, and not handicapped. She showed an interest in seeing me again and we soon began dating regularly on Saturday nights. It was important to me that Jennifer initiate things due to our 13 year age difference. To my relief, she informed me that this did not bother her. On Sundays, we began attending church together. We could both feel our friendship strengthening. Our conversations became more frequent and deeper. She was very considerate, which was easy to observe and appreciate. Jennifer and I quickly realized that we shared many of the same ideals and hobbies. We discovered we both enjoyed similar music. Her tastes were amazingly broad. Since first meeting, she has exposed me to many classic movie tunes and oldies I had never heard before—even gospel artists who I now thoroughly enjoy listening to. I had never proposed marriage before and was a bit unsure of the proper procedures, so I called my longtime friend, Johnny Shannon, and asked him about the number of knees required to kneel during a proposal. After a chuckle, he told me one knee was all I would need. I wanted to make sure I did it properly. It was New Year’s Eve 2001 and I had great hopes for how 2002 was going to begin. Jennifer and I went to dinner at Antonio’s restaurant with some true friends whom I had let in on the secret earlier that day. I was extremely eager for midnight to arrive. After what seemed like an eternity, the clock finally struck the magic hour. I bent down on one knee and asked Jennifer the anticipated question I had been carrying around with me all day. There was complete assurance in her unhesitant, “Yes!” I learned later that she was beginning to wonder whether I would ever ask her or not, and I’m completely delighted I did. Jennifer and I were married at First Baptist Church of Carrollton on March 29, 2003. Over eleven years of marriage have gone by and I thank God for her every day. I am also thankful for my radio career, which was instrumental in partnering me with my soul mate. Our music library grows a little larger every year and we really enjoy the hobby of bringing it together from CDs that we own, including several of the “Best of the Best” collections. We also enjoy making Christmas compilation CDs and giving them out with Christmas cards to our family and friends. Of course we have some money wrapped up in this leisurely pursuit, but we sure enjoy it. With Jennifer in my life, I receive more pleasure than ever. She shares with me what she sees in our world every day, which enables me to realize that the life we have and the world we live in are simply amazing. Jennifer knows how to give me excellent visual insight with just a few words. She not only has a wonderful knack for describing scenery, but also enjoys helping me maximize my pleasure from the movies we see together. Many times during a film, there is often silence, and visual dialogue is taking place. Jennifer quickly fills in those blanks with a two-second nutshell whisper, never distracting anyone near us. While we are driving, Jennifer reads the signs and billboards to me. She colorfully explains our surroundings and what businesses there are in unfamiliar areas. She describes what the sky looks like when it is especially beautiful or unique with a storm approaching. We took memorable pleasure in celebrating our fifth anniversary by enjoying our very first Carnival cruise vacation to Cozumel and Progresso, Mexico. Wow! Did I ever enjoy a clear visual perspective of those magnificent sights we were surrounded by because of her alert and caring explanations. I saw everything I wanted to with Jennifer by my side. Another example of her terrific insight is her interpretation of an Oreo commercial that was playing on TV a while back. It is very common for today’s TV commercials to be silent or have few words. This particular advertisement depicted two cops, one African American and one Caucasian, competing to lick the filling out of their Oreo cookies. Without even asking her, Jennifer explained the commercial to me in five seconds flat, which brought a smile to my face as I imagined all the little details of the commercial in my mind—two grown men rushing to devour tiny little crumbs dropping to the floor and faces covered in chocolate mush. Quite hilarious! Happy Birthday Jennifer!
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 20:45:14 +0000
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