Ten Years Ago Today ...

...  Annie and I gathered in a large church in front of our friends and family and recited the words "I Do" to each other.

Yep, it has been ten years since Annie and I tied the proverbial knot.

We met in 1997 as we were both servers at a little fine dining restaurant in the town where we went to college (Indiana, PA).  We became friends first but the chemistry was undeniable and shortly began dating.

That was my senior year and after graduation I moved away to work and we did the long distance thing for two years.  This is when most college relationships falter but Annie and I only became stronger.

On New Years Eve of 1999 I asked Annie to marry me and the rest is history.

When asked about marriage many people will tell you that it is filled with Ups & Downs and Good Times & Bad Times .... This may be true for many but I can honestly say that Annie and I have experienced an overwhelming number of the Ups & Good Times. We "get" each other in every way and this is why it has worked so well for ten years.

An example of how we "get" each other occurred just last night.  We had plans to celebrate our Anniversary by having dinner at a plush restaurant and then spend the night in a fancy hotel.  It was going to be fun and we were both looking forward to it.

Annie told me last night that she wanted to stay home and not do this?

I did not understand her reasoning at first but it was really for my own good.

Over the last month I have been overwhelmed with work, work travel, and Ironman training (totally a future post).  As the typical guy, I of course, was pretending that all of this stress was not bothering me and that I would just roll with the punches.  She knew better.  She could see that I was struggling.  She knew that I had guilt about the long weekends training and the recent time away for work.  She knew this better than I did and she stepped up because she could see I was struggling with it all.  She "gets" me - even better than I get myself!

We will still be having a nice dinner at a local restaurant and we will still get to spend time with each other just at home.  But I will not miss anymore training and will be doing a 6hr ride on Saturday morning now because of Annie's insistence that I do.

Thank You Babe.

Thank You for the last 10 years and Thank You for being the best thing to ever happen to me!

Happy Anniversary!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff