Won't you be my Neighbor?

My brother and I attending our cousins wedding

Has 2 different shoes, will wear them

     To start off and familiarize you with who I am, my name is Christopher Matthew Beigel and I am the older of two boys, born and raised in northeast Baltimore City. My parents divorced when I was young but they remained close and gave us a normal, loving upbringing. My brother’s name is Alex and he is 3 ½ years younger than I am, the difference in age meant that growing up I was old enough to look after him but he was also old enough to do things like play wiffleball and street hockey, and to build skateboard and snowboard ramps with me. Our age difference meant that we never shared a middle or high school, which I considered fortunate as we were able to make our own way socially. Still, we ran amuck all around the neighborhood and no one had to tell us to go outside. No cell phone, no problem.

      

     I attended Catholic school for elementary and high school, with a trip to a Baltimore County middle school thrown in for good measure. My high school was a boys school called Calvert Hall that I resisted being a part of at the time but now look back fondly upon for the foundation they gave me, both educationally and as a young man. As grateful as I am, it was a challenge when my two best friends left the school successively in my sophomore and junior year. One would transfer and the other would pursue a GED, and as close as we were, that closeness that existed at school was harder to maintain without them there. If I could have told myself something then, it would have been, “take note self: this is just a taste of what it’s like to maintain relationships as an adult.”

     

    

Matt Stover showing me his new Super Bowl ring at work

By the time I dabbled in collegiate endeavors half heartedly for 2 years after high school, I felt as though I was ready to enter the workforce. I worked for several years in logistics, managing and ordering the catering alcohol inventory for a private club and event facility located in Baltimore County. After years of working hard, being reliable, and rising as far as I was able to, I recognized that I wasn’t being valued for my intellect the way I thought I should be. I decided to devote myself to furthering my education. I consider myself fortunate because a lot of people have commitments and obstacles that prevents them from returning to school. I resolved to make school my job and have since been focused on the task at hand in a much different way. I’ve had an almost professional approach to my courses that wouldn’t have been possible without my experience in the work world.

      

Sadie is our best good friend

     So that is a very brief overview of me, with a couple other high points worth mentioning. I am fortunate to be getting married this summer to my beautiful fiancé Hannah, and we have an awesome dog named Sadie. At heart, I am a fun loving guy, a jokester who is not afraid to be goofy or say what’s on his mind… I take after my Mom in that I love to cook and am sentimental. I love music and art in many forms, from sculpture to glassblowing, graffiti, and all points in between. I am a die-hard fan for the Baltimore Orioles and Ravens, I always have been and always will be. If you take one look at my Dad and my Grandfather in their team gear you will see, I come by it honestly. Exploring these things and current events are what my blog has to offer, so to quote Fred Rogers, “Won’t you be my neighbor?”

Hannah and I with our parents at brunch in December 2015

Hannah and I at Deep Creek Lake in 2014

Pohler Express - The quick story of me!

            

So it all began back in 1976 when I was the first born child of my biologicals; this would change several times over the course of my life stay tuned for that episode. I was basically hijacked by my grandparents by the time I was 4 and they raised me from then on. I was legally adopted or at least attempted to be adopted at age 9 but it was not completed until I was almost 14 because that would be too easy. My mom (grandmother) had a severe stroke just before I turned 15 and for the next four years I would be her primary caretaker. I attended a vocational high school so I was on the bus by 6:30 for my hour long bus ride and then after school I came home to take care of her and for a short period of time work a part time job as well. I graduated from high school as the senior class president and lived a fairly normal life for about the next year.

 My mom passed away not even a year after she watched me graduate. She had over 80 strokes over the course of those four years. I was quick to identify a stroke and learned how to balance being a teenager and her caretaker pretty well. Some people have asked me if I feel like I was robbed of my teen years etc. but I really don't. She took care of me when nobody else was and I learned from her that we do what we have to do to take care of the people we love. I also learned from her that family is about more than blood, it's about bonds and love. I had a rough two years after mom died. I was trying to figure out where I belonged in my family and in the world.  



 I started my first real job in April of 1997 and that is where my next chapter begins. I began working as a receptionist for a small medical equipment company. I had a really nice boyfriend who I had grown up with and life seemed complete for the time being. Then one day I was sitting at my desk looking out into the parking lot when a grey pickup truck with big tires pulled up. This guy jumps out with his leather jacket and dark hair. He removed his leather jacket and I could see his fresh new tattoo. He then preceded to replace his leather jacket with a uniform jacket for the medical equipment company I worked for. I often say it was the just like in the cheesy romantic comedies. I felt like I had stars in my eyes and found out what love at first sight was like. I broke things off shortly thereafter with my long time friend and current boyfriend so that I could pursue what was sure to be a whirlwind romance. It was just that; by June we were connected at the hip and couldn't be separated. I moved in with him after I was in a car accident and my car was totaled and we were going to work together. It wasn't long before our little family of three (he already had a daughter from a prior marriage, truth be told I fell in love with her first.) became a family of four. Everything was moving so quickly we could barely keep up and enjoy the moments. Before we knew it we were a family of five and we bought a home.

My prince charming had a castle full of little princesses and he was content with everything we had built together. There was just one thing I was missing and that was that we had never gotten married although we had been engaged for quite some time and talked about if for years. 

Then one day just as we had gotten used to the idea that our little girls were all becoming young ladies we were shocked to find out we were once again expanding. Family of five became family of six. With the news of the addition on the way we decided it was just time to make everything official and we got married in a private ceremony.

Shortly after our nuptials we found out that this time we were having a little prince and our kingdom became complete. 

Almost 20 years after I first met him and I still get stars in my eyes. I work two jobs and go to school while he builds a business to support our future and we do it all for our little kingdom. 

"All because two people fell in love"