My Real Life

No question to answer today.

Just a story.

18 years ago, Memorial Day weekend 1994, Real Man and I were just friends.

We had dated for a few months in high school, and had dated for a few months our freshman year in college (him in NJ, me in Ohio), but even though we had broken up four years earlier, we were still friends.

When I graduated, early that May, and came home, we were hanging out a lot and were realizing that we had never really gotten over each other…the timing just hadn’t been right before.

I was ready to start dating him again, because at this point, I was convinced he was “the one.”

He wasn’t so sure.

Not that he didn’t think I was “the one,” but we had tried it twice before and it hadn’t worked.

What would be different this time?

Memorial Day weekend, he and I decided to drive down to the Jersey Shore together.

We spent the day on the beach at Seaside Heights.

We people watched, we swam, we napped, we laughed.

And, in the late afternoon, we talked, and Real Man said, “Let’s give it a try.  It’ll either be the biggest mistake of my life, or the best decision I’ve ever made, but let’s go for it.”

18 years, (almost 14 of them married), 4 kids, 4 houses, 5 jobs (between us), 7 cars, pounds up, pounds down, arguments, make-ups, tears and laughter later, I’d like to think it was the best decision we ever made.

So, here’s a Happy Anniversary (of sorts) to my sweetie, my love, my life.

And that’s the truth!