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From Mike Merrill, Membership Assistant:It has often been said that how a person handles life's transitions determines his or her character. If this is true, I must be quite a character by now. When it comes to major life changes, I can't quite get it worked out so that things come gradually. For the last few years in the existence of your humble membership assistant, the motto has been, "When it rains, it POURS!"
As I sit in my living room, warmed by the wood stove, I'm amazed by where I am at this point in my life, and intrigued by what is soon to come. Just three short years ago, I had a sudden spurt of big changes that still has my head reeling. In the course of two short weeks I experienced the death of my mother, marriage to my wife Brigid, and the start of training for my career as a brewer.
My mom passed away at our little rental cottage in Williamstown under the care of Brigid, myself, and the incredible people from Hospice of Northern Berkshire County. Given my mother's influence in our lives and her strong will, we knew that, even though she was gone, we had better not postpone our wedding (which had been planned for months) lest she find a way to let us know from beyond that she didn't approve of any delay. That's just the way she was.
Two days after we got married (on Goose Rocks Beach in Maine), I started an intensive training program for a new brewery in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
After a period of relative calm, another round of transition hit this past May. Brigid and I opened up our home as foster parents to a young woman who was a former client of hers. We went from just having to care for our menagerie of pets (five cats and two dogs) to being responsible for the life of a 17-year-old girl who thinks she is 25. Just one day after this development came a larger shock -- I lost my job at the brewery. I was downsized in a cost-cutting move. What a word "downsized" is. So much for job security in the '90s.
In June came the beginning of the biggest transition of all -- news of impending FATHERHOOD. After much trying, Brigid and I discovered that we're expecting. Oh my God -- what have I gotten myself into now? Nine months is not enough time to prepare yourself for a single day that will impact all the remaining days of your life. Am I really ready to enter....the Parent Zone?
To top everything off, I ended up at Tripod, where I am one of the few married staff members, surrounded by youth. With an average age around here of 25, this impending fatherhood stuff really makes me feel like the "Old Man" at the office.
My wife and I thought we had it all figured out -- timing planned, maternity leave set, hospital stay scheduled, and an expected birthday of February 12th. But yesterday Brigid visited me at work, and I knew that something was up -- she rarely just drops by. She had just been to the doctor's office, and they have moved up the date. How dare Mother Nature interfere with our timetable! Doesn't she know what goes into this planning stuff?
So now it looks like the big day may be closer to February 5th, the fifth anniversary of our first date. I guess that's fitting. So the next time you hear from me, I'll be happily changing diapers and trying to survive on three hours of sleep a night.
Talk to you soon,
P.S. I thought that I should throw in something useful or fun that you could enjoy. Here is Mike's recipe for the perfect Margarita, which was formulated through painstaking research. I'll be making one for Brigid after she has recovered from the birth of our daughter, Hannah Claire Merrill.
Mike, Membership Assistant (2/7/97)
Shake over ice, strain, and serve either over the rocks or straight up. ENJOY!
- 4 ounces Herradura Gold Tequila
- 2 ounces Cointreau, and
- the juice of two limes (or you can cheat by using 2 ounces of lime juice, unsweetened).
Read more "Letters from Tripod" in the archive.
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