AND THEY SAID IT WAS ONLY PUPPY LOVE!

Yep that is us!!! Can you believe it! It's crazy today my husband and I make 17 years of togetherness! Eventhough I have been told that now that we are married only our wedding anniversary counts, I felt the need to acknowledge that hey it's 17 freaking years!!! My husband and I grow up in the same neighborhood, hell we lived in the same building, two floors of seperations, we went to the same schools but we never really interacted. In the buildings courtyard we would pass eachother because everyone new everyone but we never really hung out! Then came the summer of 1994, I was 14 and he was 15, my friend Glenda told me hey you know Pacman ( that's his nickname) what you think of him? What do I think of him I don't even know him! After that a young Pacman began his master plan as he called it! He started showing up where I would be, coming down stairs when I would be in the courtyard and a friendship formed, then one day on a park bench he told me he needed to talk to me and said "Hey I really like you and I feel you like me" I said "Yeah I do" (we were so deep LOL) to which he responded "so if you like me and I like you I was thinking, would you be my girlfriend"!!! I nervously laughed and said yes I would love to be your girlfriend! From there on we were inseperable!

There is no one else I would pick to make this journey with me! We are not perfect, like everyone else we have our moments, we scream, cry, but we also laugh and smile! If you believe in soulmates or fate or whatever then I guess that's what we are, he truly adds to my life. He is my biggest critic and my biggest fan! As we grew up together I seen him become a wonderful man and an amazing husband! When it came time for him to ask me to marry him, he went the traditional route! He asked my parents for their blessing and he took me back to that park bench where he had asked me to be his girlfriend and got on one knee and asked me to be his wife! Of course I said YES!

As we transitioned from boyfriend and girlfriend to husband and wife we never skipped a beat! He is a great husband. I can go on forever talking about him! I may complain at times but who doesn't! But I must say I am truly happy and blessed. I am sharing my life with someone who has seen me at my worst and still is able to look at me and smile! When people find out how long we been together usually the first thing they say after "wow" is "how do you do it?" I don't think there is a set formula for a lasting relationship! We have the advantage of being together so long so we know eachother's in and outs! We kind of feel eachother out and he knows when I need space and I know when he needs his space. Its easy to get caught up in all the small stuff and expect this fairytale story but the reality is that it's not that simple! Life is messy and sometimes it nothing like those disney stories we grew up with but when you find someone that is willing to go thru all the craziness then thats what counts! Someone once told me that they knew they found the one when she waved her freak flag and he didn't run away! Well for 17 years I have waved my freak flag and he waved his right back!!!! LOL Here's to us, to another 17 years!!!