My cheesy love story

As part of Valentine's Day, I love to hear cheesy romantic stories about the way people met, how they fell in love at first sight, how their love blossomed into a wonderful marriage, and how they go on to have beautful children and fairytale lives together.

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I also think that the people who tell those stories are liars.

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I'll tell you the real truth. There's nothing too original about the way Josh and I met. We were set up by a mutual friend, who happened to also be one of Josh's ex-girlfriends of years ago. The first time I saw him, he was ordering sliced Turkey from me when I worked at the deli counter at White's Market.

The first time we ever exhanged words more than, "Can I get a pound of turkey, please?" was at this trashy dive bar in Lyndonville, Vermont called the Packing House. We were introduced, played pool, went on a couple of dates, and the rest is history. It really isn't too much of a love story, but it's the reality of how fate and circumstance came together in both of our favors for once.

So about 1 week after we met, I moved in with him (yes, I know this isn't typical). Then we went through a whole lot of shit, in fact probably more relationship foes then you could ever, ever imagine. But we survived it (to the left is us after 1 year of trials and tribulations).

Then we got a cat. Then we got a dog. Then we got a 60" HD bigscreen TV (just for all you white-trashers out there). Eventually we combined finances, took several dives deeper into debt, and bought a house together.

Then, we got engaged. Here's an eventful story for you. 2 summers ago, my engagement ring came in the mail. I thought it was going to be a book I had ordered from Amazon, so I opened it and discovered a Zale's box. I thought, wow, they must have sent this package to the wrong address. So I opened it, and realized it was an engagement ring. Then I closed it to pretned like I didn't open it.

My clever trick didn't work.

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So anyway, despite missing out on the peak experience of getting engaged, we were excited nonetheless.

So I started planning our wedding. Then about a month later, I peed on a stick like I always do just to confirm that I wasn't pregnant, an it turned out positive. So then I took another test, and another, and another. And they were all positive. So we used common sense, and made the general assumption that I was pregnant. Wedding plans were put on hold.

Now, a year and a half later, we have a 9 month old baby, and a wedding that still needs to be planned. So despite the chaos of both os us working full time, trying to pay the bills, raising a baby, me being in school full time, and Josh having the responsibility of managing a restaraunt at all hours of the day, we still somehow find time to love eachother. Sometimes we fight like crazy people, but I suppose nobody can get along all of the time.

So Josh is someone who I not only admire, but deeply respect. He experienced a childhood so greatly different from mine, and was thrown into this world with all odds agaisnt him. But somehow, he came out not only a survivor, but a succesful career and family man as well. He's a wonderful father, nothing less than an an amazing lover, and an extremely talented manager and businessman to say the absolute least. Who knew I'd meet the one man with enough strength to smack poverty's viscious cycle down, and overcome vicarious trauamtic life events like it's what he was put on this earth to do. He certainly demonstrates resilince in the face of adversity at it's absolute best.

4 years....

There's lots of things I love about him, but perhaps what I love most is that he's everything that I am not. He's a thinker and a problem solver. He has a large amount of common sense, and little tolerance for bullshit. He's got patience that astounds me, and an acceptance for ignorant people that amazes me (he's managed a McDonalds for 10+ years now... enough said.)

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Other things Josh has that I lack: Coordination, oragnizational skills, the ability to say no to people, financial management skills, impulse control, assertion, self esteem, a keene sense of character when evaluating personality, a large amount of pride, an appreciation for the "rough" people in this world, responsibility, a sense of obligation, ambition, a direction in life, tolerance of prejudice, acceptance of those who don't know any better, and lastly, a sixth sense.

Yes, you heard me. A sixth sense. He literally has an ability to see things in ways that most people just can't.

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I want it. I *lust* that piece of him.

If there's one thing he's taught me, it's to be thankful for everything we have. Our house, our child, our health, our lives, our families, our friends, and most importantly, each other.

So I have to take a moment to tell the world that I am ever so thankful for him. I'm so thankful that in all of our differences, there are similarities that we do share. We share empathy and altruism. An unconditional love for our pets and our son. We even share s soft spot for strays- that's in regard to both animals and people. And can I also just mention, that there's finally a man who agrees with me on how to raise a child? And that cleaning never takes priority over a good movie, or a nice long nap?
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So what else can I say? There's not too many people who love someone as much as I love Josh. I'm darn lucky!