I can count on one hand how many times I have ever been this immersed in gratitude. Up until that point, I had spent the entire day according to my own unilateral plan. Playing golf in the morning, watching golf during the day, interviewing golfers in the afternoon, chatting with fellow golf fans into the evening. To find out that my wife was pregnant in the middle of all the golf hoopla, I found it only right to share the news with the golf community I was mingling with.
John and Heather started clapping for me, along with their friends Dave and Donna. This drew the attention to the the family of four sitting at the adjacent table who started congratulating me as well. John noticed the Arnold Palmer bottle I had in my had and proclaimed, “Let’s get this gentleman a real drink!” as he proceeded over to the bar for a round of beers. When the father of the adjacent family found out that I would was about to be a father for the 2nd time, he joked that I should “stop by the doctor’s office on the way home from the airport to make an appointment for a vasectomy.” All in all, what was supposed to be a brief exchange of contact information to send one picture to one stranger turned into another enjoyable hour of conversation and fellowship with my new friends. And then I remembered that I still did not have a ride back to my hotel.
At some point during the chit-chat, I started asking John and Heather how long they were visiting from Canada and where they were staying while they were in Orlando. More importantly, I asked how they were getting back to their hotel later that evening. They said they had rented a car with Dave and Donna and, when I mentioned that I did not have a ride from the event, they graciously offered to drive me back to my hotel on their way back to theirs. This plan worked out impeccably as I was able to spend the rest of the afternoon with my new friends, basking in the comfort of their hospitality and savoring the visions of my wife delivering our 2nd baby later that year.
Protected: My Luckiest Day, Part 10: Payday
Fatherhood and Marriage 