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

laughed confidently and said, “Oh, I doubt that.” Without even realizing it, Alta had lit me up like wwf pyro. That one response gave me all the incentive I needed. From that point on I knew I wasn’t going to lose, I wouldn’t allow it. How dare she! Did she have any idea who she was dealing with? I was from new yawk!
    From that point on I was on a quest. I knew that I was going to have to eat it for a while, being that I was on Alta’s turf, but at the end of the game, after graduation, Amy was coming home to Yankee Stadium. Once that diploma was in my hands and I was out of
    “Evanspatch,” victory would be mine!
    In my mind I knew exactly how it would play out. Alta was no longer a threat. I kept my cards close to the vest without revealing my hand. But I knew that when the final card was played, I would be rak-ing in the entire pot. As graduation grew near, I knew I had to pop the question to Amy. Regardless of what her mother thought, I was truly in love with her. I just couldn’t see waiting to get married. That would have meant me just seeing Amy on holidays until we were ready. No way — I was ready now. Like everything else in my life up to that point, I was going all the way with this. So one night, in a Chinese restaurant, I proposed. She accepted, and we set a date: September 10, 1983. Now the pressure was on. I was graduating college in May and getting married in September. I had to get a job and prove to Alta that I could support her daughter. In the meantime, I knew Alta would be working on Amy, trying to change her mind, while I looked for employment in New York.
    Just to set the record straight, so there’s no heat, no misunderstanding, let me publicly state to the world that, today, I wholeheartedly love my mother-in-law. Why? Because not only did I grow up, I now also have a little angel of my own. Her name is Annie.
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    Forgiven
    In my early twenties, I couldn’t understand Alta’s point of view and I didn’t want to. But, as they say, God works in mysterious ways. With the unconditional love I have for Annie, I can only imagine, 10 years from now, her bringing home a 20-year-old Vince Russo. At that age, I was a rebel, and Alta saw right through me — as any good mother would. Vince Russo was ready to take over the world and go through anybody to get there
    — including her! That’s all Alta was trying to do — protect her daughter.
    To her credit, Alta had enough love for her daughter to let Amy go, and find out for herself. I think in her God-loving spirit, Alta may have also believed that this kid from New York really did love her daughter.
    Today, Alta can know she did the right thing by allowing her daughter to grow up, even though it might not necessarily have followed her time frame. That’s love, and that’s why, after being married to her daughter for 21 years, I now feel proud that I didn’t let Alta down.
    You know, I always used to tell people that my mother-in-law and I had nothing to talk about. We lived in different worlds, with different morals, different values and different ideas. For the first time, a little while ago, Alta and I sat down and opened up a bit to each other. This time, what was different from all the other times was that we had God in common. It took me 21 years to see where Alta was coming from, and as I listened to her words of wisdom, I could only say to myself, “What was I thinking?” But then again, I also realize that I wasn’t ready. At that point in my life it wasn’t all about God — it was all about me. After a 21-year journey, on a very dark and desolate highway, my heart changed. God was now first in my life and Vince Russo was bringing up the rear.
    As I sit here thinking about my marriage to Amy, I actually can’t understand how it’s possible. For 20 years I just wasn’t there — not just physically, but spiritually, mentally and emotionally. I can remember Amy’s infamous battle cry,