High School Sweethearts

Sixteen years ago, we were just two high school students who's paths crossed. We knew very little about eachother. However, we did know that we "liked" eachother enough to start "going together." Where we were "going", we really had no clue. We had no idea what our future really held for us sixteen years ago but one thing we knew for certain was that we would be "together forever." Many tried to shatter that dream but we held strong. We shared so many memories. Many good, some bad, some devistating. It sure has been a wild ride, hasn't it?

It was August 14, 1991 when we started "dating." I was 14, you were 16. We spent many hours dreaming about what our future held. The possibilities were endless. We laughed. We loved. We cried. We grew. October 14, 1995, we married.

We were together, finally, as husband and wife. We were so in love that nothing else mattered. Even the fact that we were too young to rent a decent hotel room during our four day drive honeymoon. Afterall, we were able to see great sights as we drove from Michigan, thru the U.P., over into Wisconsin, Minnesota, and back down through Chicago. It didn't matter that we only stopped long enough to use the road side restroom, grab another greasy burger and fries, and continue on until we were too tired to drive any further. It didn't matter that we had to stay in little dirt-dive shacks that stocked pornagrapic tapes in the room instead of extra blankets. It didn't matter that we had a whole $800.00 to spend on our extravagant honeymoon. And it didn't matter that you decided we would head north, but that not one tourist area would be open since it was after Labor Day. Afterall, we were together and we were in love!

We started out as most young couples do with little possessions but a great love. We started our journey in a small but nice two bedroom, third floor, apartment. We created great memories there, including our first child. Soon, we would be proud new homeowners. Our home was tiny, 679 square feet. It was a two bedroom home, perfect for our new family of three. Before we knew it, the years passed by and our family had outgrown our little home. We were now a family of six. We sold our little home and moved all of our worldly possessions into a new home, nearly four times the size of our old one. In time, our new home welcomed yet another addition to our loving family, making us a family of seven.

We've been through so much these past 16 years. I never envisioned our lives to be exactly what they are now, but I was close. I knew I wanted you by my side, forever. I knew I wanted you to be there to parent and raise our precious children. I knew you would be the loving husband and father that you have turned out to be. And I knew that I would love you even more now than I ever did then.

We've come a long way baby!

Happy 16 years together.