I didn't ever finish writing about our first date, and I didn't even write half of the rest of how we got together. And I'm tired and somewhat stressed today. So today I'm going for the no-frills look. I'm too tired to break into the template today or to upload pictures.
Scott and I have been married for 16 years today. It hasn't been easy all the time, but when is life ever easy all the time? Being married to Scott really has been great. I can't imagine what my life would be without him. I just realized that I've known him longer than I haven't, since we met when I was 15.
OK, I'm going to finish up the previous first date post and move through the rest by giving you the Reader's Digest version. Our first date was Scott's prom. After the dance portion, he took me to the alternate activity provided by one of the Baptist churches because the movie the prom kids were all going to was Porky's -- gag. I'm glad he had enough respect for me that he didn't even ask my opinion on the matter. Then we went to a catered breakfast put on by some rich parents of one of the seniors -- nice mansion. ;) Then he brought me home, and kissed me good-bye at the door. And WOW. I could hardly find the doorknob to get into the house.
So we dated for a month or so until he went into the Marines. We continued to date for over a year, but that was by letters, phone calls and very rare visits since he was stationed in Twentynine Palms, CA. By late in the next summer though, I had gotten very tired of hanging around having no social life. So I broke up with him. I still really cared about him and we had even talked about getting married someday. But it was my senior year, and I thought I was missing out on dating, etc.
So I started dating other people. And it didn't take me long to meet someone who was really, really bad. If you read the earlier post, this guy was even more manipulative than Phil -- or at least better at it. And I got stuck with him. And I got pregnant. And then I married the jerk, because I really didn't feel I had another choice. And then I spent the most miserable couple of years of my life. It was hell, and I was lucky that the U.S. Air Force put him into "corrective custody" so I could get away from him. But I had 2 kids -- a one year old and a newborn to take care of.
Thankfully my parents took me in and helped me. I got a job working in a hospital and got a little bit of my self-esteem back. Ironically enough, the night before I started working I had a vivid dream that I was dating Scott again. And even more ironically, before the training began for the job, the other trainees were talking and the subject of dreams came up. I mentioned that I had dreamed about my old boyfriend. And the girl next to me asked me if I was talking about Scott, and I said yes. She said, "Oh, well that's my boyfriend." Well, that was really awkward! But it was interesting that when I called to his mother that afternoon ;) that she said he had broken up with her a long time before that. And she hinted that Scott still really liked me. And I had already filed for divorce. (BTW, later she said that Melinda had called her that day too, LOL)
The day before my 2nd anniversary with my x, he showed up. He had gotten out of jail and had been kicked out of the Air Force. And my parents were scared. He and I went and talked for a long time -- he was trying to talk me out of the divorce. My parents had begun to think something had happened to me. Interestingly enough, that day was also the day that Scott came home because his 4 years in the Marines were up. And he had tried calling me several times that afternoon and evening, but I was gone with my x. When I finally got back, my parents said I had to call Scott (even though it was about 10 pm, LOL) he came right over, and we talked until 5 am when I had to get ready to go to work. When my x called me after work to see where I was taking him for our anniversary (he had no job) I told him that I was definitely divorcing him. ;) Wonderfully enough, except for some stalking and harrassing phone calls, he left me alone after that. He was a real coward at heart, and he was really afraid of Scott (who was smaller than him, LOL) because Scott was a Marine.
So Scott and I were inseparable pretty much from that day on. We were married 8 months later. He was able to adopt Jason and Cassandra a few months later because my x didn't want to pay child support. We were so fortunate not to have to deal with him anymore. My x was remarried sooner than I was -- I found out later that he had a girlfriend/fiancee lined up before he got out of the Air Force. He's always got a wife and/or girlfriend lined up. I don't know too much more about him, except that he has been married at least 4 times now -- although I've heard he's been married 7 times.
And really, life has been good to us. We are best friends and more. Unfortunately, we can't afford to go away for a few days like we had planned, but this will still be good. We can go another time. Since we ended up as an instant family, our opportunities to be alone have been rare, LOL. I need to go get ready to go out to dinner with him tonight.
Posted by 2Flower at January 22, 2004 05:06 PM | TrackBack