Celebrating 10 Years

Ten years ago today, Casinodad & I took our wedding vows, pledging to love one another & keeping God at the center of our marriage. As I was cleaning out some stuff, I came across the following that I wrote about our meeting each other & thought I would share it with you.

It all began in November 1996. Mentally, I had reached a low point in my life. My friends & I were all busy with our jobs so we didnt' see much of each other, my sister had recently gotten engaged, & I was having trouble adjusting to my new position as a store manager for Blockbuster. On the positive side, I was an independent person with a full time job, a great family, & wonderful friends. Something was missing from my life though. I was ready to settle down but was missing someone to share my life with.

It was a Friday evening & I had just been paid. Since I had worked that day I had to go to a bank that would be open - inside a local grocery store. Casinodad handled my transaction. He was extremely polite, friendly, & had the nicest smile. I remember thinking that I wouldn't mind getting to know him. He asked about my job. I told him I had recently been promoted to store manager. As I was leaving, he congratulated me & wished me luck.

Two Sundays later, after church, I had to go back to the bank. He was there again & impressed me by saying "munchesmom, right?" I was flattered & thought that was a positive sign of interest. (I didn't want to get my hopes up though. Maybe he was like that with all his customers.) As he was handling my transaction we talked briefly. He asked if I was any relation to the deacon at my church. I said yes, he was my father. As it turned out, he used to go there. He remembered me from there years ago. I didn't remember him, but he did say he had been shy then. He also mentioned that his sister had worked at another Blockbuster & asked how my store was. I was very impressed by his memory - my name, job, & even church.

Three days before Christmas was our next encounter. We talked briefly about Christmas shopping while another girl waited on me. As I was leaving, he mentioned the bank's hours on Christmas Eve & that he would be there. I siad that hopefully I wouldn't need more money & wished him a Merry Christmas.

As it turned out, I did need more money!! Thinking the bank opened at ten, I arrived at 10:30am. Since they didn't open until eleven, I went ahead & did some shopping. Casinodad was there when I went back so I was able to talk to him while another teller waited on me. Casinodad wasn't working a window, so when I was finished I took the initiative to step aside to talk to him.

We discussed our Christmas plans. I mentioned that I had gone out to eat w/ a friend the night before. He asked if it was with my boyfriend. When I said no, he quickly jumped on that & asked if I had a boyfriend. When I said no, he said he was also single. He asked if he could call me sometime. I gave him my number, we talked a little more, then I left with a huge smile.

(He told me later, after we'd been dating a while, that they were not having a great day at work that day. The ATM was giving them troubles, customers were cranky, etc. But he walked around w/ a smile on his face the whole day! Hmmm! I wonder why!)

The first song I heard in the car on the way home was "I've Finally Found Someone" by Barbra Streisand & Bryan Adams. This song has become our song, because we had indeed found our special someone!

(to be continued with the proposal)