HAPPY 20 YEARS TODAY

Today marks a very special day for me and my husband. We have been married 20 years!! I have been anxiously awaiting this day since new years. It feels like Christmas to me. Brian and I met in an unusual way. I lived in a suburb outside Chicago and Brian grew up in a farm town in Pennsylvania. My older brother John went in to the Army in July of 1985, and was to do his basic training in Ft. Dix, New Jersey. Brian also enlisted and was sent to Ft. Dix at the same time. They met during basic and teamed up together to help each other make it through basic training. Since Brian grew up on a farm, summer vacations were spent working the farm. He became very homesick, and was not receiving any mail from home. He was thinking of leaving, but my brother asked my dad and I to send him some mail. He needed some encouragement. So, that began our relationship. We started writing letters in August of 1985 and continued on through his AIT in Maryland and his overseas assignment in Germany. Then he said he was coming home on leave for 30 days. I had never even spoken to him on the phone, but as soon as I knew he was coming home, I arranged for 30 days off from work. I flew to Pittsburgh airport to spend two weeks with him at his family's home. Our planes came in the same day, but mine was first. I met his entire family before I "met" him. His plane came in a couple of hours later. It was like a movie...the second I saw his face..for real..not a picture..I was hooked. After only 3 days of being together he asked me to marry him. Obviously, my answer was yes! At the end of the two weeks, we both flew to Chicago to spend another two weeks with my family. We bought my engagement ring and he picked out what he wanted in a wedding ring..and that started the wedding planning. Now all we needed was a date. He had 6 months left in Germany, but didn't know his exact leave date. As soon as we knew, we scheduled the wedding for two weeks after he came home. January 23, 1988. The rest now is our history. I have been blessed with an awesome husband. Sure there have been a few rocks in the road, but we're the better for them now and they have made us stronger. We have been blessed with 3 remarkable sons as well. Our oldest son is now engaged to a precious girl Ashlynn. I pray for them to have as wonderful a marriage as we have. Not that it's all sunshine and roses, for anyone who lives in the real world knows that it's not. But, to have a partner that you can lean on or to be the post for when things don't go as planned. For when the world comes crashing down. But then also to have the partner that is their to rejoice with you when all is right.