Has It Been 10 Years Already?

Ten years ago today, I was laying on my bedroom floor texting this guy. We had been friends for over a year. A year of people telling us that we needed to start dating, that we were meant for each other. During that texted conversation, I told him I wanted to be more than friends... and asked if he wanted the same. He said yes. The rest is history. I guess!

The past ten years have been NO WHERE near perfect. In fact, for the majority of those years, we were a hot mess! We weren't just a mess in our relationship, but individually as well. I was getting over someone who had hurt me, deeply. He was getting over someone who broke his trust and he doubted everything I did. I came from an upper-middle class family who was present, supportive, and involved. He came from a lower-class family who was absent, indifferent, and un-involved. We really couldn't have been more opposite of each other.

Something happened though, when I met him in 2003. I was training him on policies at Media Play. He looked at me, and I just felt funny. The more I talked to him, the more I wanted to be around him. Then one day I heard him make an offhand comment, after seeing a guy be disrespectful to his wife or girlfriend. He said, "I would never treat you that way." I looked at him and I knew that he never would. I also knew that I didn't want to be with anyone else but him for the rest of my life, despite our differences. He had me even before we started dating.

He was so quiet and mysterious, and I was drawn in. He started calling me his wife at work, even before we were officially dating. I thought it was cute, so I started calling him my husband. Again, it just felt right.

It's easy to say when you look back you knew you were meant to be. I always say that I knew it, but really, I just knew that I was drawn to him. I was worried that we would never work because we were so different.

Because we are so different is why we work so well. All those bad things about myself that I hate? He makes up for them, and has the opposite inside him. All those bad things about him? I make up for them, opposite of him. We balance.

We've grown so much in the past 10 years. I wouldn't even know that girl back in 2004 or that guy I started dating!

The best thing about our relationship is that it's real. We aren't perfect, but we give 100% to each other. He's my person. He's my best friend. 10 years later, we are stronger than ever. As the years have passed, our relationship has just improved. I can't imagine what we'll be like in another 10, 20, or 50 years from now. Hopefully we'll have kids and grandkids that think our love is something special.

We do have something special, and we protect it. It's ours. Here's to the next 10 years (This time married all 10 of them! ;)