Our Way

I’m taking a giant leap from the origins of Sinatra’s lyrics, and substituting “Our Way” to reflect on the path I share with my husband, John. It’s not that the end is near, or we face our final curtain – as far as we know. But we have been together enough to be able to see the patterns of looking back on our 25 years together.

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

In some cases, we’re opposites – which has largely been a positive in our pairing. He brings to the table the best of what I lack and vice versa. Yet in most of the ways that matter, we’re very similar.

We married 24 years ago, and both of us had some pretty strong ups and downs prior – so both of us were, in essence, starting anew. In the beginning, our main shared priority was seeing to the needs of the three teenagers (his then, ours now, and since then, another added to the litter) and getting life stabilized.

For what seemed illogical to everybody but the two of us, we began a business on a shoestring – and somehow over the years, it worked out. The navigation from startup to now has come with complexity and challenges, but rewards as well. It’s been a great adventure neither of us would have likely pulled off on our own.

LARGER PURPOSES

To quote Anthony Robbins, “Ultimately, no man or woman is happy unless they have found a way to contribute beyond themselves.” We both subscribe to that philosophy and live it. As I write this, my current contribution is spending time in Florida helping Mom while John holds down the Virginia fort. We’re a team in this, and I appreciate his help in letting me enjoy this time from a distance.

We did so much of what the song speaks about … lived a life that’s full … planned each charted course … bit off more than we could chew … loved, laughed and cried … and regrets, too few to mention. And through it all, I’m grateful that I went through life being able to do it more than “My Way,” but with my partner in life … “Our Way.”

My Way

LYRICS BY PAUL ANKA

FIRST RECORDED BY FRANK SINATRA

And now, the end is here

And so I face the final curtain

My friend, I’ll say it clear

I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain

I’ve lived a life that’s full

I traveled each and every highway

And more, much more than this,

I did it my way

Regrets, I’ve had a few

But then again, too few to mention

I did what I had to do and saw it

through without exemption

I planned each charted course, each

careful step along the byway

And more, much more than this,

I did it my way

Yes, there were times,

I’m sure you knew

When I bit off more than I could chew

But through it all,

when there was doubt

I ate it up and spit it out

I faced it all and I stood tall

and did it my way

I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried

I‘ve had my fill, my share of losing

And now, as tears subside,

I find it all so amusing

To think I did all that

And may I say, not in a shy way,

“Oh no, oh no, not me, I did it my way”

For what is a man, what has he got?

If not himself, then he has naught

To say the things he truly feels and not

the words of one who kneels

The record shows I took the blows

and did it my way!

Yes, it was my way