Let’s get personal!… well, I will anyway. I wanted to share a little bit about our story – My husband and me, that is. We met exactly TEN years ago today! (I don’t know where the time has gone??!)
It was a cold, gloomy night… j/k. Completely. It was night, and maybe a little cold because it’s October. I met my bestie at a local watering hole, where we would visit for our weekly date on Thursday nights. I was 23. (Ripe old, 23, sigh). I had been pretty jaded from the last relationship I’d had, and so, was complaining about how I didn’t want to meet anyone. I wanted to move away, and to just “be me” for a while. Which is of course when I met my future husband.
I noticed him as soon as he walked in. His legs were black, and mechanical looking. My husband wears two prosthetic legs, that I knew immediately were definitely not cosmetic. I was doing that thing where you’re casually staring but you’re trying not to blatantly stare or get caught, you know? I had never seen anyone with a prosthetic limb before, so I was a bit mesmerized by them.
After a short while, he came over. To ask me to help out his buddy and grab the bartender’s attention for a glass of water- because of course, I could do it quicker than he could. Flattery – 1, Winning the girl over – 1, Intro complete. We talked all night and the next day he called me to ask me on a date. CALLED me. ON THE PHONE. I think that’s practically unheard of these days!
I quickly realized that this guy was pretty impressive. He had worn prosthetics basically since he started walking, as his legs were amputated at about 9 months old. He was raised by two loving parents who treated him exactly like any other kid. There was no extra hand-holding, or coddling. He did chores, took the trash out, and was expected to work harder, because they knew he would have to in order to be successful in this world. I’m so grateful that he was raised by such realistic and loving people.
He had left a professional career where he was already climbing the management ladder, to drop everything, move to Oklahoma, and play volleyball. Wait, what? Yes, volleyball. You see, there’s a small niche of athletes, that completes in a separate athletic realm. My husband Charlie was exposed to sitting volleyball (the Para version of the game) and loved it. He practiced with the team for nearly a year, prior to moving, to train full time.
Of course, I realized much of this as our dating adventure continued. We would date for another 4 years before he asked that question that all women in love want to be asked. “Will you be on my cell phone plan?”; and then 6 months later, we were engaged. 😉
We have been married for 4 years, together for TEN today! {OMG!} I realized 10 years isn’t much in the grand scheme of things, but when it amounts to about 1/3 of your life, it is quite a bit! And I wonder how it sped by so quickly?… It may seem weird, but we celebrate October 21 (our meet cute day) more so than our actual wedding anniversary.
Do you celebrate the day you met/started dating as your anniversary or your actual wedding day? Tell me a little about your story if you want to share!
