How I Met My Hero

Nineteen years ago today, I stood in front of my very own hero and exchanged vows. We were both extremely young then -- I was eighteen, out of high school only a year. He was twenty-one and sporting a high and tight, courtesy of the United States Marine Corps.

A lot of people (including a lot of family members) said we'd never last. We were too young to get married. Too young to settle down. And I'll admit, it wasn't love at first sight for us. In fact, if I went off first impressions, I never would have dated him, let alone married him. See, I kind of disliked him with an intense passion when we met in 1990. He was a show-off, arrogant and came off with an attitude where he thought he was such a smooth talker. I was even a little perturbed my ex-boyfriend had brought this guy around (yeah, that's a story for another time, but the ex and I were good friends).

When I got to know him a little better, because he annoyingly kept coming around to my lunch table everyday, but we ended up becoming really good friends. Then we started dating and he was shipped off to Paris Island, SC for basic training. That summer was spent exchanging letters. Letters I still keep in a box on my dresser even though they're just starting to turn brown from age.

Life wasn't all rainbows and cupcakes, but we're still together and that's my own personal HEA.