I technically asked Jamie out for our first date. I was in college and only a few weeks from going home for the summer after my sophomore year. He was dragging his feet and I was impatient. He had given me a CD of his latest project at the time (see below), which happened to have his number on it. (This was back in the ancient times of the early 2000’s, before texting had been invented.) I called and left a message on his answering machine. (an answering machine was like Siri or Alexa, only back then she only recorded peoples’ voices.) He called me back and said the words first, but I still say I had to ask him.

On the first date night, he called up from the lobby of my dorm to let me know he was there, since boys weren’t allowed in our rooms. He opened the door to his red Honda Civic for me, and took me miniature golfing. To this day, neither of us remember why we didn’t have dinner first. We talked and talked and talked about everything past, present, and future. We were so lost in the conversation that we actually got lost on the golf course and forgot which hole we were on. We finished the round–I think. Then we went for dessert and talked some more. When he drove me back to my dorm neither of us was ready to say goodnight. So we talked in his car for a few more hours–until 2 a.m. He walked me back to the dorm and hugged me…and that was it.

I honestly wasn’t too bothered by it at the time. I went straight to my friend Maria’s room and woke her up to tell her that I was going to marry him. I knew it at that moment that he was it. I was done looking. He later told me that after that first date he told his mother he was going to marry me. Almost exactly three years later our predictions came true.

We were married fourteen years ago today. We have had so many adventures together and have been through many ups and downs including nine apartments/condos/houses, building two houses we didn’t end up moving into, four cars, three SUV’s, one truck, two scooters, failed fertility treatments, two successful adoptions, one failed adoption, one miscarriage, two dogs, one cat, one rabbit, several failed entrepreneurial attempts, a few more successful entrepreneurial attempts, starting a family Christmas tree farm, we’ve lost four grandparents, we have stayed with the same companies throughout our careers but have moved locations six times for Jamie, four for me, Jamie has recorded six saxophone projects, we’ve been better, we’ve been worse, we’ve been richer, we’ve been poorer, we’ve had sickness, and we’ve had health. And all of the triumphs and failures have only brought us closer. As the world spins more quickly around us, we hold on to each other more tightly. Happy Anniversary Jamie! You are my joy, my laughter, my support, and my strength. I don’t regret any choice we have made. Each one molded our life together into what it is today.