Together 15 Years - The best years ever!

I fell for him the day that I met him. I was fifteen and working at Burger King when he walked into my life. He looked adorable in his kahki pants, green izod shirt, and yellow izod windbreaker. He walked with a slightly jaunty gait -- not quite cocky, but pretty confident. I looked into his eyes and was at a loss for words. He asked me for a job application! I told him I'd be right back and went to the office to get him one. "OhMyGoodness he is so cute we have to hire him!" is what I said to the manager sitting in the office. She laughed. He took the application and sat down and filled it out in the dining room. I stayed around the front counter pretending to clean and trying to look cute. I was not skilled in the art of flirting...

After a few minutes he returned to me with the application. I took it and wished him luck, then I went around the corner to look the application over to see what I could learn about this very cute boy. I was immediately crestfallen to learn that he was SEVEN whole months younger than me. This could never work. Any respectable high school girl knows you can't date a boy who is younger than you -- even if he is super cute. "Alas," I thought, "It is not meant to be." I told the manager how bummed out I was that he was too young to date. She again laughed. Later she called him in for an interview and ended up hiring him. I still thought he was cute and continued to mourn the fact he was not dating material.

The cute boy ended up working the opening shift with me every weekend. I was the drive thru cashier and he worked the broiler, fryers and boards making the food. My prep job was cleaning out and assembling the shake machine. If something was too heavy for me to lift I always asked him to help me. One morning the manager didn't show up to open the restaurant. By this time the cute boy had his drivers license and I did not (my parents were strict, his took him to get his ticket to freedom on his 16th birthday). So on this Sunday morning we all waited outside and tried to entertain ourselves until the manager arrived.

The cute boy decided it would be a good time to teach me to drive and the entire crew was entertained as I learned the finer points of steering and braking while driving around the drive thru at Burger King. I circled and circled, my delinquent friends watched and drank warm beer that one of the guys had left over in his trunk. (Eventually the manager showed up and we went back to work -- I think the drinkers had their most productive day ever).

A year passes and the cute boy became my best friend. We would talk on the phone for hours. We took our breaks and lunches together. We worked the same shifts and he sometimes drove me home -- even though it was way out of his way. I was a senior in high school and he was a junior. Prom time came around and I kept waiting for Mr. Right to walk into my life and sweep me off my feet. I went to an all girls school and he went to an all boys school; we both had spring break at the same time. I was not one of those kids whose parents let her go to Florida for spring break. I was "not responsible enough." They were so right; there was no way I was responsible enough to go off to another state without supervision! How is anyone that young responsible enough? I would have ended up raped or in jail. I'm glad I didn't go to Florida.

I spent spring break working with the cute boy and another cute boy (again too young) at our Burger King. During this time "The Search is Over" by Survivor was quite the radio hit. Each morning we got to listen to the radio before opening to serve breakfast. Each morning I would lament out loud that someday this would be our song when I found my Mr. Right. I said this often to the cute boy and the other cute boy.

One day I was driving home (I finally got my license on my 17th birthday) and "The Search is Over" came on. As it started I suddenly realized that I wanted to take the cute boy to prom. Duh! Why hadn't I thought of this sooner? He was my best friend. He was adorable. He was right in front of my eyes all of this time. I asked him to go with me to prom and we started dating. We dated through college and seven years after our very first date, we walked down the church aisle together after making our vows to each other. We have been married for 15 years this month. That is 22 years together.

The best years of my life are the years that I have spent with the cute boy who is now my Hubby. He makes me a better person than I would be without him; he says I do the same for him. I love him with my heart and soul. Where he is will always be where I want to be. He is still my very best friend. I am grateful for luck I had in finding him so young. I am grateful for our love and our children.

I know we are blessed to be together and I am thankful. We may have struggles and hard times, but we will always have each other. He is my rock and I am happy. When I think of growing old with him it brings me joy.

"Wheresoever he is, there is Eden."