10 years

I suppose I should have written this last month, but honestly, I forgot this pretty big milestone due to the fact that the marriage anniversary trumps this one by a lot.

On November 3rd this year, my DH and I have officially been together for 10 years! And the time has flown by, but it still feels like we've been together forever. A third of my life. Wow.

We met when I was a sophomore in college and he was a junior. I was hanging out (or partying...) with some guys in the dorm at the time (no, not like that) and one night he showed up with one of the guys I'd been hanging out with a little. But since he had a girlfriend, I didn't even look at him with interest. Since he and this other guy are good friends, he was around a lot. And apparently I looked interesting enough that he would go out of his way to talk to me. Pretty soon, they were teaching me how to play 3-handed pinochle, and we became friends.

The next school year came, and after starting out kinda awkwardly (for numerous reasons I won't go into), we picked back up with the friendship. But little by little, it became apparent to me that he was interested in maybe more than friendship. He & his girlfriend had broken up during the previous school year, so I didn't have to worry about that. And I was interested also, and had been for a while, but was still hesitant. One night, he asked me out and I said yes. I don't remember what we did (it was probably a group date), but I do remember thinking that it would probably be a short-lived relationship... we were just too different to last a long time. Or so I thought.

He graduated & I became a senior, and we were going strong. Then I graduated and decided to stay because of him. I moved into his apartment. And while it was rough going there for a while, we got through it. We then moved into a house he bought. Then 5 years after we started dating, he proposed. Honestly, I was long past wondering if it would ever happen, so I was so happy when he did. Of course, I said yes. In April 2008, we got married.

Examining us now, it's become apparent to me that we have lasted this long simply because we are so different. If he were anything like me, it would drive me crazy, and any relationship certainly wouldn't last 5 years, let alone 10. Sure, we do share a lot of ideals & opinions, and that's our common thread. But everything else is just complementary of the other person.

And every day I thank my lucky stars that I have him in my life. I have no idea where I'd be without him. :)