Free Forgiven: One Man's Journey from Self-Glorification to Sanctification by Vince Russo

Italian and from New York. Ms. Gartner, on the other hand: religion, Baptist; nationality, Baptist; place of origin —
    Bible Belt. In other words, this had all the makings of a sitcom.
    When I met Amy, I knew within a short period of time that she was the one for me. The truth is, the minute I set foot in Indiana I knew I would marry a girl from the Midwest. They were just so much more “human,” so much nicer. The majority of Long Island girls were all about themselves: the hair, the make-up, which club they were going to. They were forever on a journey to “get themselves over” (a wrestling term we will get more into later), their popularity and status meant everything . The only way they knew was their way. In 46
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    Forgiven
    Indiana it was different. I mean, the girls actually cared for you, just like your mother did. They cooked for you, coddled you, babied you and catered to you around the clock. I now realize, at the time I met Amy, maybe it was a combination of a mother thing (the fact that I’d left home at 19 and moved a thousand miles away didn’t mean I was ready for the experience) and a male chauvinistic thing (the way my mother dominated my father) — but I’m neither ashamed or embarrassed to say I needed a woman who would take care of me. When I met Amy in my junior year at Indiana State, I knew she was that woman. I was already tired of the dating scene, and I just wanted one special person to come home to.
    Recently, my son Will asked me, “Dad, how do you know when you’re in love?” Even though I know that’s the age-old question, I actually think I know the answer. I love my wife, Amy, because she was and is everything that I’m not. She filled the missing pieces to my puzzle and made me whole. Whereas I was strong, bull-headed, confident and driven, Amy was the complete opposite — vulnerable, fair, honest and fulfilled with life. Whoever coined the phrase “opposites attract” was dead on the money — Amy and I had nothing in common. In contrast, when you look at my relationship with L, she was everything I was. She wasn’t my better half, as Amy is, because she was me. And you wonder why I believe in God? There is no way coincidence brought me to my perfect mate, living in Evansville, Indiana, of all places. Consider the road which led me to Amy in the first place. I had to graduate high school early, enroll in college, realize I wasn’t ready for it, drop out of college, get a real job in the real world on a real assembly line where my father worked, realize I had to go back to school, run into a friend who I hadn’t seen in over a year and let him talk me into going to college in Evansville, Indiana. That’s fate, my friends. That’s the Lord’s plan.
    If it hadn’t been for Amy, I don’t know if I would have ever been able to survive the “wrestling bubble” I had somehow landed in. Amy was my rock, my constant, my backbone. And today I thank God for providing such a gift.
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    Vince Russo
    From the first moments I spent with her, I could tell Amy was a saint, hands-down the nicest person I had ever met. I envisioned myself spending the rest of my life with her — there was just nobody more complementary to me. Unfortunately, I don’t think Amy’s mother felt the same way about the relationship as I did.
    This would be the biggest battle of my life to date — the main event. In one corner, you had an Italian Catholic from New Yawk, while in the other corner stood a self-righteous General Baptist from Middle America, usa. There’s no question, I was the underdog going into this one. I had everything stacked against me, including the home-field advantage. On paper, this appeared to be a war I couldn’t possibly win . . . something I thrived on. In Alta Gartner’s mind, I had no business dating her daughter. Yeah, I said “Alta.” In the Midwest people have unfamiliar names like that.