Labor Day weekend 1978 – I met a very cute guy in our church parking lot before our youth choir practice. He had the cutest smile that lit up his whole face. He had gorgeous brown wavy hair and brown eyes that sparkled when he laughed. And … he was the drummer for our youth choir and ensemble.
It took me several months to snag him. We would hang out in the church parking lot after church and talk for hours. He liked to drive my VW Bug around the parking lot, or so he said. He finally asked me out on a date in December to a concert. (I had to break a date, so I could go … sorry!) We continued to “dance around” each other for several weeks. He was such a flirt.
I finally had to pull out all the stops. I baked him his favorite cake for his birthday. (The best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, right?) When he asked our friends if they thought that meant I “liked” him, their answer was a resounding “DUH!!!”
We started dating that December. There were lots of concerts, youth group shenanigans, Friday night football games, picnics in the mountains, and just plain hangout with friends and family. We dated for 3 years.
On October 17, 1981 we were married at the same church where we met. We vowed before God, our family and friends that for better or worse, in sickness or in health, for richer or poorer – we were in it for the long haul. No giving up. No quitting. No walking away.
Over the years we have experienced it all… the better and the worst, the sickness and the health, the richer and the poorer. We have loved and laughed. We have fought and made up. We have buried a son. We have raised two incredible sons who make us proud daily. We have been blessed with two beautiful daughters-in-love and three absolutely, incredible grandchildren. We have spent more hours than I can count at baseball games cheering on our boys. We have served the Lord side by side at church and on the mission fields. We have made a lifetime of memories that I will treasure until I take my last breath.
Now … here as we approach October 17, 2021, we celebrate 40 years of marriage! I feel so incredibly blessed! Most do not make it this far in today’s culture. I am so grateful for the man I have grown up with since we were 17 years old. He has loved me, cared for me, cheered me on, and walked this journey side by side with me. I cannot imagine life without him. We are so different in some ways, but I think that is what completes us a couple. We truly have become one.
I don’t know what the future holds for us, but I do know that we will be together until the Lord chooses to call one of us home. I pray he grants us many more years here together!
So, Happy Anniversary My One True Love!!!!! I love you beyond words and I am so grateful for you!