The Story of Us

This blog has been 17 years in the making. Well maybe not the blog but the family and the story of us.  My husband Mike and I have been together for 17 years.  We started dating when I was a sophomore in high school.  Sounds crazy, right?  Well neither of us could have predicted it or where this journey would lead us.  My husband was raised just outside of Annapolis, Maryland in a town called Severna Park.  He was a 'good boy' who played golf and enjoyed being an only child.  I was an Army brat, born and raised.. well almost everywhere.  I was born in Kansas, then lived in Germany, Panama, Tennessee and eventually Maryland.  That is where our story starts!

 

I still have braces...AHH!



I met my husband on a blind date with one of his friends.. he was with another girl.  As the gentleman that I learned he is, he not only treated his date to dinner, he treated me as well.  When we left the restaurant and we were hanging out in the parking lot, he offered me the warmth of his car to defrost my toes.  Did I mention it was a bright red sports car?? ;-)  The rest of the evening,  I was smitten.  I could not keep my eyes off of him. I can't quite say the feeling was totally mutual.  Although we began hanging out, I sensed he wasn't quite connected.  We parted ways after a few weeks and remained friends.  Shortly after, I caught wind (from his mutual friend) that Mike had decided to drive to Tennessee to visit a friend of mine that he had gotten to know.  Upon hearing about this, I did what any rational 16 year old would do, I screamed like a crazy person at them and began to get interested in one of his friends.  After his return from the 'completely innocent' trip, I knew I was still interested.  We began talking again but my parents were not convinced.  By the way, he was 18 at this point and a Freshman in college.  To say my military father was not happy would be an understatement.  As most people know, the best way to win over a father is through the mother.  Mike began to talk to my mom and even brought her flowers for Mother's Day.. she was sold.



 

 

 

 

That is when 'our' journey truly began.  Mike immediately became my best friend.  He was there to pick me up from school, help me with my Calculus homework, or bring me Haribo gummi bears.  He was always there for me.  I had moved so much that I never felt a long-term connection, now I had one, a REAL one.  I was in love!   I soon realized that he needed me as much as I needed him.  After meeting his parents, I discovered that his mom was sick.  She had MS (multiple sclerosis), a debilitating progress disease in which your body attacks the myelin sheath.  It was attacking her spine and she was rapidly becoming paralyzed.  It was heart wrenching to see.  Through the many trials she went through (from attempted suicide, to losing the ability to feed herself, to just plain losing hope) we all bonded.  His family became mine and we formed our own.  Our relationship continued on through a deep depression and many difficult times.

After 8 years of dating, at the age of 23, we got engaged.  Mike loves deeply but not always outwardly.  Our engagement was more of a 'lets get married' than a 'down on one knee, pop the question' kind.  None the less, we began the wedding process.  Our original plans of a large 250 person, golf course wedding were scrapped for what we really wanted.  We were married on October 1, 2004 at the Don CeSar resort on St. Pete beach with 32 of our closet family and friends.  It was beautiful.