Shift for Good by Tory Johnson

Author:Tory Johnson [JOHNSON, TORY]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hachette Books
Published: 2015-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Never apologize for wanting to know every detail about your personal and household finances.

Celebrate Often

The sleeping man next to me never wears a stitch of clothing to bed. I think he’s as handsome now as he was when I married him twenty years ago, despite some additional pounds on his frame. He’s put up with a lot from me in recent months, this man who some friends describe as a cross between Russell Crowe and George Clooney.

Hmmm. It’s early still, the kids have yet to stir in their rooms, and our bedroom door is shut. Marly is passed out on his little green L.L.Bean bed on the floor, perhaps dreaming of chasing rabbits. As I gently wake the sleeping man with a technique all my own, he doesn’t resist.

“Happy anniversary,” I say a few minutes later.

“Indeed!” Peter whispers.

I can’t believe we’ve been married for twenty years. Some couples we know mark their wedding anniversaries alone, with quiet, romantic dinners at out-of-the-way restaurants. Not us. In our family, we party together and celebrate all milestones with one another. We’ve found that the more we celebrate, the more we have to celebrate.

For our Big 2-0, Emma researches restaurants, and true to her personality, checks out all the cool and hip places in Manhattan. She chooses one that she thinks we’ll all like: Quality Italian on West 57th Street, midway between Tiffany & Co. and Carnegie Hall.

“Actually, Mom, I’ve wanted to go there since it opened, but it’s expensive. Since everyone likes Italian and it’s your big day, it’s okay, right?”

“Of course, baby,” I tell her.

That night we take a taxi to the restaurant, where we find Peter’s son, Nick, waiting out front, looking as cool as ever. I met Nick when he was just seven. He came to live with us at age eleven and has been with us ever since. He is now twenty-eight and a graphic designer in Brooklyn, where he lives in a studio apartment above a busy butcher shop. He is a joy to be with—funny, smart, and considerate—and Emma and Jake idolize their older brother. In some ways, Nick has replaced my dad as their inveterate teaser, with emails and texts flying between Brooklyn and Manhattan at all hours. The kids love nothing better than to engage in a prolonged sassy exchange with Nick the Boss.

He hands me an envelope. It’s clearly not an anniversary card. No, this is a business envelope and inside is a check for $2,000, a sum Nick asked to borrow several months before. I make a move to give it back, but he refuses to take it. “I asked for a loan, not a gift,” he says. “I insist on repaying my debt.”

This blows me away. Nick has always been an exceptional big brother to Jake and Emma, and they hang on his every word. But what never fails to move me is how true to his word he is, like now. I know he could use the money and that repaying me is no doubt a big stretch for him.

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