Has It Really Been That Long??

Today is our 27th anniversary.

I'm finding it very hard to wrap my head around that space of time!  In one sense, it feels like we were just getting married last week, but in another, it seems like we have always been together.

I've had a few of you ask how we met, so I think today is a good day to revisit the story of us.

First, let me lay some ground work.  In February 1983, I had just gotten a divorce from my first husband and the biological father of my daughters.  I was scared, hurt and alone with two little ones (2 1/2 and 1) to support.  I talked to a friend of mine and he encouraged me to apply to the business college where he taught. I applied and was accepted into the Secretarial Management program. It was a one year program, and the business school had a good reputation for helping to place their graduates. My classes started in June. I was able to get a childcare provider that lived close to me, so away I went to start school.

The first couple of days was orientation and testing.  I tested out of a couple of the basic classes, so I had to choose some classes to take their places.  One of the classes I chose was taught by my friend.  His specialty was in business management.

Sir Nottaguy-Imadad had started the same quarter in the Business Management program, which was an 18 month duration.  Needless to say, he had my friend as one of his instructors, also.

My friend was a hopeless romantic, and had a tendency to play match maker.  However, he understood just how afraid I was of getting involved with anyone, and I was positive that I was safe from his machinations.

Okay, now the story starts:  The first few weeks of school were really hard for me.  I was working part time in the afternoons for the lawyer who had handled my divorce, going to school from 8 a.m. to noon, and trying to take care of two toddlers and an apartment.  I was just constantly exhausted.  Then the instructors started assigning special projects that needed to be completed by the end of the quarter.

My friend's standard philosophy was that most of his management students would be working in group situations, so his projects were always set up for groups.  Amazingly enough, as he started handing out group assignments, Sir and I were always teamed together usually just the two of us.

After a couple of these projects, I started realizing what a really nice guy Sir was.  Then I started getting suspicious.  I finally confronted my friend, when I realized that everyone else was being rotated through different group assignments except for us.  At first, J--- tried to tell me that it was just the way the names were drawn.  Finally, he admitted that he was trying to set us up.  He told me to keep an open mind.  That not all men were like my ex.  That he (my friend) really felt that Sir and I could make a go of it.

By this time, I was starting to get interested a little.  I was still VERY nervous about the idea of dating.  However, due to another class mate's  intervention (she had gone to school with Sir from elementary through high school) I knew that Sir was, also, interested in me.  Finally, I took a leap of faith and invited Sir to dinner at my apartment.  The note I wrote about here was his answer to my invitation.

When Sir showed up, he had two stuffed animals for my girls in his hand.  (They kept them until they left home!) We had a great lasagna dinner with a funny interlude that Sir can post on his blog. (He tells the story MUCH better than I do!)  Then we sat and watched a baseball game on the TV and talked.

It took a couple of months, but we finally decided that maybe we did belong together.  About 18 months later, we were married.

It really has been 27 years!  We've had our ups and downs, received our fair share of counselling, got rid of lots of old emotional baggage and had a few rousing fights, but we decided early on that divorce was really not an option we were going to give ourselves.  We started a pattern of praying together twice a day and allowing God to be the glue that kept us stuck together.  I think He has done a marvelous work!

Happy Anniversary, Darling!  Let's see just how far this train will take us!