Twenty

We were just acquaintances back in the summer of 1991.  We went to the same northern Colorado church, but he was four years older and so we really didn't hang around with the same people.

I moved to a neighboring town to start college at the end of August.  Around that same time, my roommate started dating one of his friends.  The boyfriend would come for a visit every Tuesday afternoon and I always tried to make myself scarce.  It was no fun feeling like a third wheel.

One week, the boyfriend invited him to tag along.  We walked around campus and talked while the two lovebirds had some alone time.  He came the next week, and the next.  He wasn't like any guy I had ever met and we quickly became friends.

Then there was the breakup.  My roommate was a crying mess and the weekly visits had come to an end, or so I thought.  The following Tuesday, he showed up at my door with a bouquet of flowers in his hand.  He asked if he could keep coming to see me.  I told him that I would like that. 

By mid December we were talking about getting married.  At his parent's request, we put off our engagement until after his college graduation in May.

We were married on September 19, 1992.  I was 19 and he was 23.  It had been almost a year to the day since that first walk on my college campus.  We've been walking together ever since.

Some people thought we were crazy for getting married when we were so young.  Others were convinced that we'd never make it.  Through all the ups and downs, laughter and tears, good times and bad we've stayed together.  I feel a strange sense of pride knowing that we proved all the naysayers wrong. 

It's hard to believe that twenty years have passed since that rainy September day.  As I pause and survey all that we have experienced over the past two decades, I can honestly say that I would do it all over again.  My life has been blessed because of this man.

So, here's a toast to my hubby...

Happy 20th Anniversary!  I can't imagine spending my life with anyone else and I look forward to seeing what's in store for us over the next twenty years.  If the past is any indication, it promises to be a wild ride.  I love you!