Nineteen

Last weekend, we drove to Myrtle Beach to watch our oldest daughter perform at a concert. On the way home, the car was quiet and my husband and I picked the music. We really had a good time going down memory lane. "Jeremy loved this song. Do you remember his little white Nissan?" "God! We played this album all summer." We really enjoyed reminiscing. Tomorrow marks nineteen years together. NINETEEN. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19. That seems like a lot of years.

We met 20 years ago this summer. I was just a little older than our oldest is now. It was right after my sophomore year in high school. He was 17. We had such a fun summer together. Completely platonic, we were just good friends. I remember going to the beach with him. We'd stop at a Wawa on the way and pick up hoagies and iced tea. I'll buy the latest issue of Cosmopolitan. We'd drive to the shore and I'd have my feet on the dash, in my tiny shorts and bikini top. I'd read the articles from Cosmo out loud to him. "Ten Ways to blow his mind TONIGHT- this will be a good one!" Honestly, I've never met a bigger cocktease. But I didn't know anything at all. I was only 16. Sometimes he'd steal glances at me and I'd pretend not to notice.

By the next summer, I was already completely in love with him. It was like the world had finally revealed itself to me. He opened doors that I never even knew existed. That time, 19 years ago was out of a dream. It was before 9-11, the world was a different place then. I was in a daze, a cloud of hormones and elation. I don't think we could have known what was coming. It hit us so hard and so quickly that we were powerless to stop it. He was my person. I knew that with every shred of my being. I didn't know why or how but I just knew that my life was infinitely better with him in it.

I was right. So, here we are 19 years later. What a wild ride. A few weeks ago, my daughter was invited to her friend's 18th birthday party downtown. On the car ride there she said, "You know, I always knew that you married dad when you were 18 and I kind of thought it was normal growing up. But now I have friends who are 18 and I think it's literally insane." I laughed. It is a little crazy.

So much has happened in 19 years. It's gone by super fast. Sometimes I look around and I think, "Wow. This shit really worked out." Who knew? We know that we are an exception to the rule and we do not take that lightly. We are incredibly fortunate that we have had the opportunity to grow up together, to raise our children together, to know what it is to love in good times and in bad. What I like best about "us" is that we love to laugh. We inspire each other to be better people. I have his back 100% and I know he has mine. Life has been good to us and I have zero regrets. I'd do it all over again.

I was wondering about how I could put our relationship into words. I didn't want to be all mushy, because you've heard it all before. How many times can I tell our story? I could do an ode to him, but I've done that too. It's no secret that I am obsessed with the man. I think our text messages sum it up. LOL. So, this is what nineteen years together looks like. Enjoy!