16 years? Has it really been that long?
We met in 1991, in a most unusual way.
I was 35 and had been a struggling single Mom for almost 5 years, working, raising my 2 kids and finally felt at peace being alone. I was once again having fun, being single, spending time with friends and my kids. He was 36, also single for 5 years and raising his son. I didn't expect it or went out looking for it necessarily.
My single girlfriend and I would read the "Datemaker" personal ads in the throw away Pennysaver. We laughed at their phony and puffed up descriptions of themselves. Surely these desperate people could not possibly be the real deal, they seemed too perfect and beyond.
We thought it would be a hoot to place our own ads just to see what kind of response we would get. We placed and boy did we ever get responses. The calls were made to a safe answering machine mailbox where we could access phone messages and decide for ourselves if we wanted to respond or not. I got over 100 messages in 3 days!!!
Apparently, there was a demand for a 30 something, single mom who liked to camp, snow ski and ride motorcycles. And yeah, some were creepy stinkers - click, hang up. Like one creep who asked me on the message if I would join him at a NUDIST CAMP that weekend! Um, let's see, that would be a BIG NO - click, erase! Others seemed nice enough of the few whose calls I did return. They were decent and fine men, but eh, not for me.
One message, from a nervous, single Dad initially caught my attention. But playing phone tag stalled things. FINALLY, I tried to call again, a real person on the phone. His name was Terry. We talked many times in that week, realizing we had tons in common and finally met one evening in March after my son's baseball game.
We clicked, and away we went. Our kids were 10, 10, and 11 and got along great.
Christmas morning 1991, while the kids watched me unwrap a ring, Terry asked me to marry him!
On August 15, 1992, we stood in front of my living room window, below a balloon arch, our kids standing by our sides and 60 of our closest friends and family in attendance. It was the hottest day of the year. We said our vows, ran upstairs, changed into shorts and swimming suits and proceeded to have a big BBQ swim reception in the backyard. Perfect!
We fell in love and that's all that mattered - nothing else.
Yes, it's been 16 wonderful years, and worth every second.
Thanks Pennysaver and Terry!
Love you, T.
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