meeting the man of my dreams...

One of the benefits of being a dreamer is the ability to transport yourself back in time and loose yourself in a memory. At 6 o'clock this morning my sweet husband, Peter comes in our room like he does every morning with a glass of water and some medication that I have to take daily. (he knows how I have a difficult time with consistency..) Peter is a nickname that I gave to him a few years ago. In the Bible Peter's name means "The Rock" and that is what he is for me...My Rock.. This is only one of the many sweet things he does for me and it Always makes me smile (even though it IS 6 a.m.). This morning as he walked in I was looking out the window smiling and he asked me what was making me so happy. I told him I was thinking about the day we met. He just laughed - sometimes he doesn't understand how my head works but he agreed it makes him smile too.

I had no clue that warm Texas night on March 14, 1987 as I got ready to go cruise 34th Street with my friends that my life would forever change in so many directions. If I had, I would have paused to savor so many of those moments. As I picked out the crazy floral skirt and that silly bright yellow sweater I would never have dreamed the impact it would make on a certain young man I was about to encounter.

The week before, my long time boyfriend informed me that we should "see other people". So Zanna Sue, one of my best friends decided I needed to get out of the house. We stopped by and picked up another friend who lived down the road from me and we headed to town in Zanna's mom's Ford Escort with LAW license plates.(..lol...inside joke...) The thing to do on a Friday night was to cruise 34th street from the car wash to the Easy Mart. Well, at one point we see this car - it was a Red 1969 Chevelle with a black top and Wisconsin plates. And driving this car was the most gorgeous guy I had ever seen! We saw him and his 2 friends a few more times and then finally we pulled up side be side at a stop light (in front of der Weinershnitzel..lol) and we both had our windows down. That was the first time I saw those Incredible Blue eyes. Zanna leaned over and asked him..."Hey, are you Really from Wisconsin?" And that was where it all began...

So, I TOTALLY realize that this next step was irresponsible and if it were my daughter I would have gone completey insane and I would not recommend this to any young girl but nonetheless this IS part of OUR story... We went to a park that was nearby and we all 6 got out. We sat on the swings for awhile and chatted. It turns out these guys were in the Air Force...Oh, My...this made everything even more exciting..not just your average idiot high school boys. (once again, I know, we should have ran...) We decided to walk a few blocks for Zanna to show us a house she lived in when she was little. So, as we walked it turned out that Peter and I sort of ended up side by side just chatting away like crazy. He was telling me about his family and his life in Wisconsin and I shared my life as well. As we turned to head back he reached over and held my hand. We had to get going and so he walked me to our car. As the others got inside the cars we stayed back - I still remember us staring into each others eyes in the moonlight - sappy, I know, but true. Then he reached down and gave me a light kiss...sigh....Knowing him like I do now that was SOOO out of character for him. When I asked him about that later he just said, "I knew I had to do Something...I knew you were special...and I didn't know how to make sure you remembered me..."

We didn't even exchange numbers that night which makes the story even better. We had mentioned to them where we were going to be the next evening....So, to shorten the story, atleast a bit....That next night in walks the Man of My Dreams....I know, more sappy stuff, but so true. That evening we sat a talked for hours and we finally exchanged phone numbers. He called me that week and our first date was on my birthday the next weekend.

He IS the Love of my Life and I tell him often....This morning as he sat and waited for me to take my medicine he said those words to me as well. We realize we have a fairytale marriage. We have been through our fair share of difficul times. Uncertain times. I have not always been the wife he deserved and I have been deeply hurt by actions of his as well. There have been Many tears shed throughout our marriage. But we can both honestly say there has not been one moment in 23 years that I haven't Loved him. And we are not about to take that Love for granted - not one minute...He is the most amazing man God could have ever blessed me with...He is My Rock.....