captainsblog | Now don't be sad, cause two outta three ain't bad.

All the bad associations of This Day In History aside, in my own lifetime it's taken on some good meanings of its own. Well, mostly good.

Certainly among the best was this day 23 years ago, when Eleanor stood on a wind-swept Atlantic shore and agreed to become my bride. No ring yet when I proposed, but plenty of sand between our toes, and in the end, it's all just minerals, anyway. That choice of spot took on added significance when we lost my sister not even two years after that day. It'd been Sandy who we went to visit that weekend, and it was she who suggested Jones Beach as a non-touristy proposal spot. Somewhere, we still have a little box that we filled up from that shore, so that the beginning of our marriage journey will always be Sand-y.

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It's also, I am pained to have just remembered, the birthday of one of the nicest guys we've ever met here.

It was Shakespeare who said that "some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them." Likewise, some men are merely good in and of themselves, while others export that goodness to and through the lives of others as well as their own light shining on its own.

Leslie is not just a good man, a gentle soul, and a wit of the first order- although he is all of those things. Above and beyond even that, though, he was the gift of attracting and retaining the friendships of equally good people around him, who have, in turn, shared their words and lives with me. There may be an egg among these chickens (or vice versa), but I count the likes of

digitalemur,

elbiesee,

platypus and

siercia as those who have intertwined thoughts and experiences with Leslie as well as with us here (for Eleanor is friends with most of you, as well). That's not counting Janet, the beloved Mrs. Professor, who we also count among the dearest of never-met friends even as we plot to extinguish that never-met part.

Happiest of birthdays,

liddle_oldman, with love from both of us here.

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Finally, today had shared some marital karma with us once, for it was this day, not that many years ago, that I used my Mad Legal Skillz to confirm that my friend Donna was finally divorced from an older and sadder scumpuddle of a husband. With love in her heart and ridiculous (for her) shoes on her feet, she went out that same day and pledged her troth to the man who promised to be there for her forever.

Until, you know, he wasn't.

On the brighter side, she's extracted herself from that second puddle, in a better place with a smaller but more committed family, and the dog's eaten all the stupid shoes, so she's even more comfortable now.

Someday, a day will bring the right damn prince to your door, with a comfortable sneaker that just fits. Or he won't. But either way, we will always be here for you and yours.