Another Anniversary Worth Mentioning

In the excitement of celebrating the six month anniversary of Pumpkin's arrival, I completely forgot the anniversary of my first date with DH. He, of course, remembered, as he does with all occasions big and small.

Yes, it was four years ago March 13 that my sweet, dear husband swallowed his nerves and met me for dinner at a local restaurant. We had worked together years before when he was married to a lovely woman and I was single. Through the years, our paths crossed only briefly, but I always remembered that man whom I thought was the nicest person and whose wife surely must be the luckiest woman on earth.

As fate would have it, his wife passed away after a brief and painful diagnosis of lung cancer and I ended a seven year relationship that had both of us looking to fill some lonely voids in our lives. A mutual friend suggested I reach out, so I did and suggested dinner. That dinner on a cold, March evening was a delightful evening of reminiscing, laughter and ultimately closing down the restaurant at 2 a.m.! Two conversationalists who had years of catching up to do. I came home that evening and told my dear, sweet Kaden that I had met the man I was going to marry. And, indeed six months later, I did on a beautifully sunny day on a beach in Negril, Jamaica.

I cannot hear the stories of our first dates being told by DH enough as each time it seems like a fairy tale that no one would believe. I often tell him, before falling asleep next to him, that I still cannot believe I'm married to him. To know that I am lucky enough to have this wonderfully supportive, compassionate, funny, chivalrous man as my husband....it often still just doesn't seem real.

I am happy to report it is real and four years into our late-bloomers-love-club I'm as happy as I was that first night. He is the frame around any memory I have in life, making it more beautiful in the way he showcases what true and real love can be.

Happy Anniversary, Dooley! Your Little Lo-Retta continues to think you're the cherry on my greatest ice-cream sundae. I love you...