Reasons To Celebrate

Today marks the seventh anniversary of my marriage to the love of my life. My beautiful, tender wife, mother of my children, lover and best friend. The first time I laid eyes on her, she captivated me. I watched her as a sweet, shy cashier at the young age of 17. She was a rising Senior in High School. I was a 21-year-old college student about to embarq on a new chapter of college life at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

We spent the summer of 1995 as friends. We were, however, smitten with each other. By September of that year, the girl I had kind of sort of been seeing was no more. Hannah saw her prime opportunity to move in. Oh, no, no, no .... don't let me mislead you. She is a subtle force, for sure. She would never be overt in her courtship of me. She merely led me to her with a shy, coy diligence.

There were probably more ups and downs than a lot of romances go. Or -- maybe not. Who knows. We were young. We were both in our first real relationships. Yet through the ridiculous and foolish child-like behaviors we both at times would reveal -- our love survived. We both knew in our hearts we were meant to be together. Looking back, I wished I had come to my senses early on. We dated five and a half years before finally tying the knot. An infintile mind, I would not concede my heart forever at that young age. I can not explain why. There is no good reason. For my bride owned my heart.