Happily ever after

Autumn 1988, I entered college in Virginia, and future-hubby headed to school in Texas. Now, for all you younguns, this was before e-mail was in wide usage, and long before you could get a cellphone plan with any type of free calling in or out of your network. So we didn't have those things. I had a Sprint phone card.

Someday, I'm going to take all those old phone bills and add them up. I know it's way up in the hundreds, if not a thousand or more. To pay for all this talk, I typed papers for people all four years I was there.

The hardest time was the semester I spent in London. For three and a half months, I could only talk to him for ten minutes every two weeks. Not a day went by that I didn't wish he were there to share in all the fun things my roommate and I did.

Summers, we spent as much time together as possible, when we weren't working. Then, my senior year, he showed up at my college with a ring. He didn't give it to me right away - he took me ring shopping first. Sneaky, huh? I didn't suspect a thing. Then he did the whole down-on-one-knee proposal thing in my dorm room while we were waiting for a pizza delivery.

One important thing I've left out is that he wanted me to date other guys while at college, if I had the opportunity. Why? Simple. He wanted me to be sure that he was the one. He didn't want me to turn down other guys just because he and I had this long-distance relationship. That's nuts, you're saying. He could have lost me. True, but I think it was very wise on his part. By going out with a couple of other guys, I realized how much I loved him and missed him. All I could do was wish it was him instead. And that's how I knew he was the one for me.

So, we were married that June, six and a half years after we met. And just in case you're wondering (I know you are - admit it), we were both virgins when we tied the knot. We're coming up on 14 years this June, and I love him more every day. He is a truly amazing man and I am blessed to be his wife. And it all started with a teenage crush twenty years ago this month! Happy anniversary, my love!