Every Love Story is Beautiful... But Ours is My Favorite

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach

Elizabeth Barrett Browning


sorry, picture is really old

 How do you find the right words to sum up how much I completely love you and to tell you how thankful I am that YOU are MY Valentine Forever.   Our story to me never ever gets old or boring! You came into my life when I thought there was nothing.  My life began with you.

My 14 things I love the most……

1.    Your ability to build and fix everything and anything

2.    You standing in the driveway giving me your  “I Love You” sign language symbol each and every time I leave the house to go anywhere

3.    Your willingness to do anything I ask (you have only said “No” twice in our entire marriage and of course you were right!)

4.    Your accepting my weaknesses and faults and loving me just the same

5.    When you wrap your arms around my waist and kiss my neck

6.    The little notes and presents you live around the house and in my car

7.    The touch of your hand in mine

8.  The way you gently push my hair behind my ear

9.  Your total and complete goofiness that makes me laugh and smile

10. Your adoring love for our daughter

11. When I look up and see you watching me

12. Knowing I can depend on you

13. Telling me I am gorgeous and beautiful

14. How you take me in your arms and tell me that you are forever in love with me! 

Now for the post -- here is our love story……. I honestly didn’t know it would turn out this way…….my father told me no one would want to marry me….

   It seemed like a lifetime of waiting to find one another.   In High School we had similar friends and attended the same Ted Nugent concert but our paths never crossed and our existence of one another remained a mystery.    Somehow destiny brought us to the same place of employment.  Our first encounter would be in a class I was teaching on 7 Habits for Highly Effective People- he was one of forty participants and to me just a name on the roster.  It would be two years later before our paths would cross again and both our circumstances in marriage had changed.  While interviewing his staff for a Team Building Exercise he walked into the break room and began talking about his children and the weekend.  I looked up and said, “You are divorced?”   It would take him two weeks to get up the courage to ask me to lunch.  Our lunch date was at Houston’s (no longer open but we are still together).   I knew at lunch that we would be married.  He on the other hand wanted nothing to do with marriage and definitely no more children (he had two and I had three).   But I knew in my heart that one day we would be married.  Jump forward to a January warm day in Texas playing putt-putt golf – standing behind me he says, “would you marry me if I asked you?”  I pretended not to hear (I know that is so wrong, but I wanted him to propose).  Several weeks later on February 13^th (he wanted to ask me on Valentine’s Day but was too excited to wait) this wonderful and charming man on bended knee asked for my hand in marriage.   We were married on May 6th, 2000 (easy for keeping up with the anniversary). 

Our life would begin and for me a life of what seemed so natural as though we had been together for eternity.  But combining a family was one of the hardest things I have ever done (that is definitely another story).  There were many struggles, heartaches and disappointments.  Now that the kids are grown the differences and struggles seem so trivial.   As life would have it not all ended in a happily ever after but we made it through and intact as a couple.

Our biggest surprise was the birth of Sarah.   He was adamant about not having more children and I did not press the point.  However, on a quiet day at the same moment we both felt a sweet spirit was waiting to come into our family.  It was somewhat as a shock to us both.  Very quickly I became pregnant only to lose the pregnancy 12 weeks later.  The baby was to be born on his birthday and the loss hit us both very hard.  Shortly after the miscarriage I would become pregnant again only to lose the pregnancy at nine weeks.  Our hearts were heavy as we pondered whether to try again. 

While driving home one day from errands he would take my hand and say, “we do not have to try again, you have been through enough.”  In tears I said, “I would like to try one more time and see.”  It would be a year later before I got pregnant.  Our deadline was my 45^th birthday.  If there was no positive pregnancy then I would have my tubes tied.   Pregnant again!  This is also another story and quite remarkable but for another post.  I will jump to the end – Sarah is now seven and arrived healthy and has changed our lives forever. 

He is my one and only and holds my heart. He is my Happily Ever After.  

 

Happy Valentine’s Day