The first time I saw him it was behind the wheel of a 1966 blue Ford Fairlane. My heart skipped a beat. I was in that awful county uniform the first time he saw me. I am sure I made an impression, thanks to the uniform... if there are fifty shades of poop, then I was wearing two of them. My hair was in my standard ponytail, if I had only known I was about to meet my future husband I would have spruced up a bit . All these years later... I can look at him across the room and my breath catches. He probably looks at me and is thankful my wardrobe has improved.
The love we have for each other is real and it's not something that can be scripted in a movie. Real love is work and it's a choice. People always say there is a light at the end of the tunnel and some days you have to wonder just how long the tunnel is. When times have been tough we have made a choice to stay together because no matter how hard something might be, it would be that much harder facing it alone.
Mark and I still go out on dates. There are times I will go sit on his lap and curl up against him. I remember my grandma used to curl up in my grandfather's lap when I was young. You could feel the love radiate from the two of them, seeing them like that made such an impression on me. They had more than their share of hard times. When my grandparents were raising their children, there were times they didn't know how they were going to feed and clothe them. Grandma and Grandpa always knew God would make a way. Their faith was the foundation that they stood on and it made them strong. They stuck together for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. They raised their kids, helped raise their grandchildren and looked after their great grandchildren. Grandpa died almost 17 years ago...3 weeks before they would have celebrated their 47th wedding anniversary. The love between those two was an amazing and beautiful thing. They fought for one another because they knew what they had was worth fighting for.
Mark and I are here together in the trenches of parenthood. Sometimes...okay a lot of times we are good cop/bad cop and I will give you one guess who gets to be the good cop. It is so easy to get caught up in the every day happenings of life. We are Mommy and Daddy, though some days I feel more like a warden. It's easy to forget that before we were Mommy and Daddy...we were Kimmi and Mark. We are still Mark and Kimmi, best friends, soul mates, prayer partners and lovers. We stand on the firm foundation of our faith. We know that God brought us together.
When I have no make up on and I am wearing one of Mark's t-shirts, he tells me I am beautiful. When I feel like everything is going wrong, he tells me that we will get through it. I couldn't imagine my life without my husband even on the days he makes me want to rip my hair out. I have so many hopes and dreams for Charli when she grows up. I pray that she will marry a man who loves her like her Daddy loves me, and I pray she will love him back with every fiber of her being.
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