My Baby Mama

The name "Lisa Erlinger" first came to my attention one day about eleven years ago. After coming home from work one evening, Terry informed me that there were no phone messages, but that there was a person by this particular name listed on the caller ID. Neither one of us recognized it and chalked it up as a wrong number. It was an hour or so later when the phone rang again and the name reappeared. I answered it, only to hear my friend Renee on the other end. She was calling from Columbia to see when Jeff and I would be coming out to visit. As it turned out, Lisa Erlinger was her roommate.

"Is she good lookin'?" I asked in all seriousness.

"Actually, yeah," she responded, "you'd like her."

Jeff and I ended up making plans to venture out to Columbia to visit Renee and her sister, Amy. A few weeks later, when we reached our destination, we were greeted at the door by Renee and her two roommates, Lisa and Valerie. We went out that night to a comedy club, where a hypnotist was performing. I was urged to go on stage by our group, but refused to fall under the spell of the dark wizard. Later on that night, we raised the roof to Salt-N-Pepa's 1986 dance club hit, "Push It."

"PUSH IT!!!!" I yelled as I pumped my fist toward the dance gods in the sky.

I got to know Lisa throughout the night. I wanted to somehow see her again casually, but found that the 120 mile distance between us would be a negative factor in the long run. As I slept on the couch in Renee's living room, I thought about this new girl and pondered how I could get to know her better. We said our goodbyes the next day and Jeff and I drove back to Kansas City. The entire time, I wondered if I'd missed my chance. But then I remembered that she was one of Renee's best friends. I'd decided that there's a chance I'd see her again. But when? If anybody had told me then that this girl was going to one day be my wife, I wouldn't have believed it.

Needless to say, destiny brought us together and we went on to bigger and better things. We were married in the spring of 2000 and, just recently, celebrated the birth of our first child. I'm very grateful that, not only did I find my soul mate, but that she has stood beside me all these years. Today is her birthday. I won't say how old she is, but she can take comfort in knowing that I'll always be five months her senior.

Happy birthday, Babe. We love you.