It is my husband's birthday today and in honor of this occasion I am devoting a blog entry to him. I met Andrew almost 13 years ago. We were both working at a casino. He was a fresh-faced youth right out of high school and I was on my way back to college after the summer spent working. I never expected a friendship to last after that summer and I certainly could not foresee eventually marrying and having children with him.
When we were parting ways that August, he wrote his university contact information on a piece of cardboard. It is funny the things that we remember. Maybe that cardboard was symbolic. It wasn't on my hand, which could be wiped off, or a piece of paper easily ruined. It was something more solid and stable than that. I didn't see that in him at the time but that is who is he, someone steadfast and true to his word. Someone who wouldn't go away.
We kept in contact through email mostly and over Christmas break we met up at the casino again. I was seeing someone else by this time and he tried to persuade me to end it. But geographically it would have been difficult so I declined the offer. Soon we were both seeing other people. The emails stopped coming and I believed that was the end of our friendship. Looking back, I see how God had to have had a hand in our eventual marriage. The sequence of events were too uncanny.
Eventually our relationships ended at the same time roughly and we sought each other out again. But I still saw him as the young guy from the casino and while we dated, I didn't think he was to be my mister forever after. If there is one thing about Andrew that should be noted, he is persistent. I have watched him call people over and over again until he gets an answer. It used to annoy me but now I see that is probably why we are together. A less hearty man would have given up on me, as I sent out the vibes that I was no longer that interested. But he stayed and I began to see in him the potential that existed for a long-lasting, happy life together.
Time and God's will took over, and we eventually married. I am not going to whitewash it and say it was idyllic. The first few years we were still very young and not emotionally developed. He was 22 and I was 24. There were times when I didn't know how long we would last. But we forged ahead and stuck with it. And then we had a child together. I thought I had seen all sides to my husband in the course of over 10 years together but then I saw how he loved our child. He has a patience with her and a tenderness that only make me love him more. I don't know why I thought there was a cap on the amount of love you could feel but he has proved me wrong.
So this blog is my ode to him. To the man who helped me get through college, stood by me during my darkest times, held my hand when there were tragedies, makes me laugh every day, pokes fun at me so that I don't take things too seriously, does the dishes for me when I cut my finger, walks the dog every day even in bitter cold, grabs me Burger King to indulge my pregnancy cravings, etc...Happy birthday my dear husband. P.S. If I ever make you mad, just refer to this blog and remember all the nice things I told the world about you. ;)
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