Happy Anniversary a day late!

                                                                        

Yesterday was the day I was officially told that I had the new position as CSI instructor. It was also Flag Day in our country. In some years, Father's Day falls on the 14th of June.

For my husband and myself, June 14 marks our anniversary... we've been married 32 years. I made the above graphic at some website last year, but now cannot remember where it was. Here's a brief summary of our first meeting.

I was a senior art student in the the Graphic Design department at the University of Georgia and he was an Air Forceman stationed in Warner Robins, Georgia. My parents lived in WR, my dad was stationed there as well. I met Steve at the NCO's club when he came to our table and asked me to dance. It was the fall of 1974, so you can imagine the kind of music we listened to in those days.

He asked me out on a date after a few dances. Two days later he drove me back to college, an almost two hour drive. I found out a few crucial things about him, and knew that this guy had a significant place in my life. 1) He had six siblings; 2) he drove a 1973 Challenger (it was a beautiful metallic blue color); and 3) he was from North Carolina.

I've mentioned this in a previous entry I think, but here it is again. That he was from North Carolina is what sealed the deal. Ever since the 11th grade, I had wanted to live in North Carolina. In 1973, when Dodge advertised their newest model, I decided the plum colored Challenger was the car I wanted someday. In my own family, I had six siblings. My father was Air Force, this guy was Air Force. The signs were all there pointing at him, telling me that "He's the one!"

But I needed more time to get to know him. I was afraid to listen to my heart in those days... I didn't know to trust my own intuitions. I just needed a little time with him to be sure.

After we had gone out on a a date, I learned that he was receiving his discharge in a couple of weeks. Looking back, I see that there was a very brief window of time for us to meet and begin a serious relationship. Three weeks from the time I met him in Georgia, he had to move back to his home in NC.

Every two weeks, on his days off from work, he would drive to Athens to spend a few days with me. Eventually, he moved to Athens, then we got married in June, and by November of 1975, we had decided to move to NC where we could both look for a job... North Carolina was to be the location of the rest of my life.

Three years later, we had bought a house, our son was born, both of us were working, we had a dog (Irish Setter)... the song "Our House" by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young described perfectly our happy life in that little 2-bedroom house on five acres of North Carolina land.     

                    

I cannot believe it has been  32 years... I still see him sometimes as that exciting Romeo, pursuing me, pleasing me, looking for times and places to be alone with each other. There was so much we wanted to know about this other person, me about him, and him about me. He protected me, cared for me, and taught me. What I know about fixing things I learned from him. What I know about relationships, I learned from him. What I know about support, trust, love, and forgiveness, I learned from my husband.    

                                      

Sometimes it's easier to joke about our spouses, and point out their flaws. Sometimes we even notice their flaws more than their consistent, undying strengths. Like their loyalty, their faith in us, their trust in us, and us in them. In any meaningful relationship, there has to be a balance of give and take (not always 50-50, mind you), there has to be trust, and there has to be hope for the future. All of these are blanketed with love, the greatest gift.

I believe that Divine Intervention brought us together during that three week window of opportunity. Yes, even in the NCO's club, dark, loud, and smoky though it was, God works miracles.

   Happy Anniversary to us!!!

         

This is not our car, but a picture I found on the internet. It looks like the one I fell in love with when I was 16 years old. Ours was metallic blue, not plum.