The Story of our Love ...the good, the bad and some of the ugly

I was  awarding  Love is Everywhere with the Stylish Blogger Award when I saw her request for love stories.  Since I had JUST finished writing my "7 things about me" for the acceptance of my award and had mentioned a bit about my Love I thought I would maybe tell the whole story.....


It was a chilly day in January, 1999, and I was in rough shape.  I was young an foolish and quite hungover.  My "date" and I were having some lunch when he suggested I must "pass one more friend test".  { I mentioned young and foolish already right??}  So I rolled my eyes and asked which friend was going to interrogate me now?  My "date" had an older, wiser friend who worked just down the street and if SHE approved of me I was going to be made in the shade!  So off we went {not because I felt I had something to prove but because I really had drank WAY too much the night before and had no energy to argue}, I held his hand down the street until I spied this tall good looking man propped up against a wall who gave us a nod.  I could not help but squeeze my "date's" hand and ask "Who IS that?" (Major Sparks are flying)  It turns out he is the older brother of the friend we were coming to meet....


So to cut some of the middle junk out...I passed the "test" with flying colours!  The friend and I became Best friends and  eventually I dumped the "date" and moved on with my life, a little older and a little wiser....


One beautiful day in June, 2001,  during prep for my Mom's wedding I ran into Crystal (aka, the Ultimate Test) and she invited me down to her new apartment.  I was pretty relieved to have an excuse to escape from the hustle and bustle so I told her I'd stop over as soon as I finished up.  When I arrived I saw Wayne sitting on the front steps and my heart just about stopped.  He was just as good looking as the first time I had saw him.  He totally captures my attention.  We talked for hours, even after Crystal went off to do her own thing.  We talked about life, weddings, tv shows, jobs and kids, I really didn't want to stop but I had to get back to my Mom's, her wedding was the next day.  So I said my regretful good-bye and started out the door when Wayne stopped me and asked if he could have a picture of me " all done up" for the wedding?  He explained that he thought I was already beautiful but he could only imagine how stunning I would look the next day.  I  blushed and agreed. (It's a good thing too because this picture would be a huge deciding factor over the following couple of years)
 For the weeks following I found excuses to visit and hang out, even when Crystal was working, by the end of the summer I couldn't get enough.  I could tell Wayne was pretty fond of me too...but something was holding him back.  It turns out that he was pretty nervous about the age gap between us.  That I was too young and "too good" for him and wouldn't stick around long. 
Needless to say it is now 2011,   the 13year age gap has never been an issue.  We have 2 beautiful girls together and 2 beautiful daughters that live with their mothers.  We have endured some really strenuous times and some Amazing moments and we are madly in love. We could not be happier!   Neither of us has had great examples of marriages so we have been a little slow moving in that department.  Wayne asked me to marry him on October 11th, 2007, but we have yet to set a date for a wedding....we'd be happy to go to City Hall and just sign papers, we're not big into fancy or being center of attention, but Ainsley has been hounding for pretty dresses and flowers since she figured out what an engagement ring is for.   So maybe sometime in 2012, when the debt is clear and both girls are old enough to participate & remember we will have the wedding Ainsley dreams of.  Xoxo