V-day

Sixteen years ago today, The Man got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
(He also got me a really great dog that day as a gift. The dog may have been the best part of the arrangement!)
At nineteen, I had no idea what that meant, but I was in (lust) love and said yes.
After only two months of dating.
Eight months after that,we were married.
Sixteen years later, we have three kids, a couple of mortgages, jobs, and a life that I would never have dreamed of when I uttered that one little word.
Truthfully, I don't' remember saying yes. I think I said, "Well, you know the answer." So do I get a buy week on that since I didn't' actually say yes?
People thought we were crazy.
We were.
People thought we were too young.
We were that, too.
People thought we wouldn't last.
And we've proven every damned one of them wrong, time and again.
I remember talking with The Man before we said our "I do's" and telling him I didn't believe in divorce.
I still don't.
Even though, many times over the years, walking away would have been easier than staying together.
Especially after our miscarriage, when he was deployed to Cuba for a year right after our loss, I could have walked away.
So could he.
But we'd made a choice sixteen years ago to commit our lives to each other, and committed we have stayed.
I was lucky enough to have both of my parents, married, grossly in love (Eew! Parent love!) as a guide. I had grandparents who'd been married since time began as a template to build from.
I had the foundation to grow from.
And like happy little weeds with no sense, we've shoved down roots, holding together the cracks with sheer will, and producing some pretty dandelions that will eventually use us as a framework for their own relationships.
I will not wax poetic this Valentine's Day. But I will say it was the beginning of my true life, my adult life, the first step to turning into the woman I am today--a type A control freak, yes, but a married type A control freak, damn it!
And I still say my beloved Chi dog, Tequila, was the best part of the deal.
Well, after the heathens.
But definitely before The Man.
Happy Valentines Day to The Man, who still chooses to walk this path with me, sometimes lost, occassionally confused, always ready to drag me off into another adventure whether or not I'm ready to go.
And to my beloveds, Bug, Boo, and Punk. You are my hearts, walking around and breathing new life into me. You are, quite simply, love.