13 years ago…

Next month, February, Sandy and I will have met 16 years ago! I started working at the Call Center where he was already employed. My first shift out of training, we spoke and that was the first of many conversations for us. I was in an unhealthy relationship at the time and Sandy was in a relationship as well, but was unhappy. We developed a friendship over time by being able to share frustrations and emotions with each other. It was nice to vent to someone who was also struggling in their relationship. My relationship ended and I moved to on the dating world. We remained friends. Sandy was always someone I could speak to no matter what was happening in my life.

One day, a year and a half ish after we became friends Sandy showed up at work with as many of his belongings as he could fit in his vehicle. He was moving out and his relationship was over. I knew he was serious. He wanted both him and his partner to be happy and they were not going to find that with each other. It was during this next month that he needed my friendship the most. During that time we realized that this friendship we had developed, could potentially be a foundation for a relationship. Both of us were nervous to start dating. We had been good friends for a long while and neither of us wanted to harm that. I am so happy that we took that chance! I truly believe the best relationships have many components to them, one of them being friendship. You have to love spending time with your partner, you have to like the person that they are, you have to love the person you are around them and for me Sandy has always built me up, gave me confidence, love and support in ways that I never imagined possible of a relationship!

We dated only 7 months before we were engaged and were married 9 months after that. I believe that you really do know! When you find that person, you really do know! I was never one for a big wedding. I never understood spending so much money on one day, when it was the rest of your life after that day that was most important! Lots of people do it I know and everyone has their own idea of their special day! I wouldn’t take anything away from those people, but for Sandy and I, we needed the two of us, God and someone to marry us!

We were blessed to have a close friend offer us a free cruise for our honeymoon and it would depart from New Orleans, so for me the wedding planning began! It was simple and came together so quickly! We found a beautiful Riverboat on the Mississippi and the wedding including the photographer would be $500! That is it and it was perfect! 13 years ago we had arrived in New Orleans the day before, woke up together on our wedding morning, helped each other get ready and drove to the Mississippi River! It was January and it was roughly 20 degrees! I was so happy! We were so happy! I can’t tell you the name of our witness, I can’t tell you the song I walked down the aisle on the boat to, but I can tell you that it was the best wedding for us and I was so happy! That morning we sailed on a dinner cruise down the Mississippi! Spent the rest of the day exploring New Orleans and the following day departed on a wonderful cruise! When we came back we also were fortunate enough to be able to spend a week in New Orleans, falling in love with that city!

I can’t wait to take our children there! Knowing them, I just know they will love the city as much as we do! We have been through a lot in 13 years! All of our lives have our ups and downs, ours has not been any different,  but I know that our relationship has continued to grow stronger each year! I am so thankful for our love! Happy Anniversary Sandy!