Anniversary Thursday

Today, I've been married for eight years. It seems like a long time; but at the same time, just like yesterday that we got married. Gary and I got married in Las Vegas at the Little White Wedding Chapel on The Strip. Many people have been married there....Sinatra, Elvis, Judy Garland, Michael Jordan...just to name a few. We had a really cool wedding. The pews were covered in crushed red velvet. The columns were gold. It was totally Vegas. A homeless man got butt naked and took a bath in the fountain next to where we got our pictures made. Our family and friends were there with us and it was kind of symbolic of the family we still have - not all blood related, but close friends that have become family. We both wrote our own vows. Gary cried and snot ran out of his nose. Actually, it just sort of hung there and the light coming through the stained glass window caught it and it glistened. We have these fine moments on tape :) We were so broke. He and I couldn't even afford to pay for the wedding - my mom and dad paid for it. I think it was $55 or something like that...but we were soooooo unbelievably broke when we first got married. They even paid for the video....LOL!!! Still, we've come a long way from our electric being turned off because we spent all of our money in Las Vegas after we got married. I have a life that I would have never had if I had not married Gary. Sure, we've had some really rough times and there have been times when it might have been easier to leave. I stayed and I'm glad I did. Marriage is tough - I don't care what anyone says. Love is important, yes; but it's not everything. If you don't have trust, respect, honesty, and a sense of humor, then it's never going to work. You have to accept the fact that you are in it for the long haul - warts and all. You're not always going to like one another, but you had better be enough in love that you can get through all of the shitstorms. Gary is my closest friend. He knows me inside and out and he accepts me exactly as I am. I don't have to apologize for who I am (or who I'm not) with him. He knows all of my faults, all of my quirks. He knows the lines to cross and the ones to stay far, far away from. And I know those things about him as well. Our relationship didn't start out under the most ideal of circumstances, but we knew the minute we met that this was it. I knew I had found the love of my life and regardless of the situation we were in, I was not letting that man go under any circumstances. I guess that's what has kept us together. We clicked from the start and the spark has never left.

I know how lucky I am to have a husband that is not only good to me, but good to our kids and is a great son and son in law. I'm spoiled rotten by him and I know it. Don't think that I don't appreciate him, or my life, because I do. If I had never met him, and if I hadn't asked him to have drinks with me at the Wild Turkey 10 years ago, who knows where I'd be today. I do know that I wouldn't be here - happy, in love, taken care of, and with a wonderful family. Thank you Gary for eight years of happiness :) I hope that I have made you happy as well.

Kelly