Memories

In the last 25 hours I have been working on my wedding scrapbook. I am nearly done and it's only 26 years after the wedding. I was at the all night scrap book event. Out of those 25 hours, I worked for 18 of them. I did come home at 1:45 this morning and slept. I went back by 8 a.m. I am so happy that I FINALLY have those memories in a book that looks special.

It made me think about how much I love Jeff. We only knew each other for six months before we got married. I came home from Charlotte North Carolina in April of 1981, and swore that I would NEVER get involved in a relationship EVER again. Then a month to the day later my friend Ruth introduced me to a friend of her boyfriends. It was a blind date, and poor Jeff thought he was being invited to a party with several other christian young people. He came to the door with a six pack of diet soda, and wondered where everyone was. He saw Tom and Ruth, and just one other person (me) and knew he'd been had! I am so glad he didn't walk back out that door faster than he walked in. From that point on we were inseparable.

We met on May 17, and were married on November 28, 1981. We will soon be celebrating 26 years of marriage. As I put the last picture on the last page of the book, I really got to thinking about what I wrote in the sand. You know the scene, young couple strolling down the beach while on their honeymoon, and stop to write I love _ _ _ _ . I hope you can see the picture below. "It says I love Jeff". I realized that when I wrote that I thought I loved him. Now I KNOW I love him!

How can I not love someone that has devoted himself to being a good husband and father. One that loves me no matter what I look like (I'm certainly not the tiny 105 pounds I was then). He puts up with my mood swings (we're talking pendulum like swings on a HUGE clock). He puts up with my piles (he does contribute to the mess too). He has been at my side through giving birth to our four babies. He has been at my side through two horrifically painful back surgeries. He never left my side when we had to learn of the death of our daughter, and throughout the painful times surrounding that. He has humored me in things I had no business doing, but I thought I was doing the right thing.

He is my rock. My hero. I may get angry, even furious with him. I may get tired of his "thrifty-ness". I may get tired of his complaining about wanting to retire and a few other minor things. But I love this man! I can't imagine life without him, nor do I want to! I would shrivel up and die. We may not have the best marriage in the world, but we do understand each other for the most part. we are devoted to each other.

I really do mean what I wrote in the sand nearly 26 years ago. He is the man of my dreams. The father of my children, my better half, my support, my husband, the answer to all the prayers I prayed for MANY years!

I Love Jeff!