This Is Dedicated To The One I Love

I'll always love you for the rest of my days

You have won my heart and my soul with your sweet, sexy ways

You gave me hope when I needed someone near

You bring me happiness every day of every year

I'll always love you for all that you are

You have made my life complete. You're my lucky star

You are the one I've been searching for

You are my everything, tell me who could ask for more

And I'll always love you, this will never end

I need you by my side, Honey, you're my lover, my friend

My friend

You gave my world a thrill I've never known

And filled my eager heart with a love to call my own

And I'll always love you, you must know how much I do

You can count on me forever, and I will take good care of you

I'll always love you, I'm so happy that you're mine

I'll always love you, yes, til the end of time

~I'll Always Love You by Taylor Dayne~

It's A Wonder This Wedding Wasn't Cancelled

He had already asked her to marry him while slow dancing at a company Christmas party and she, with all of her 17 year old heart, had said yes.

It was a LONG engagement while we went to college. We each lived at home and commuted
to school. There were no "sleepovers". It was 1974 and every night Dad would be sitting in his chair, watching Johnny Carson, waiting for me to come in before the MIDNIGHT CURFEW!
Mom would be in bed, but not sleeping until she heard me climb the stairs.

We worked and saved money from our paychecks every week in a joint savings account. We managed to save enough to pay for some of the wedding expenses, a Honeymoon to Florida (So far away! I had never been on a plane!) and a house full of furniture.

FAST FORWARD... to 8 weeks before the wedding. My Dad had a stroke at age 49. He was expected to recover, but we didn't know if he would be able to come to the wedding. I considered canceling, but the therapist said they would use it to motivate him to learn to walk again. He was released about 12 days before the wedding, walking slowly, with a quad cane.

In the meantime, our Best Man had bowed out (You can't choose your relatives) and my cousin THE PRIEST ended up in the hospital with diabetic/kidney issues. Luckily we had another sympathetic Priest step in, my brother got bumped up to Best Man status and a friend filled the empty Usher slot.

My wedding dress arrived at the shop, I tried it on, and I guess I had lost a little weight (I was on the Stress Diet). The top was falling off my non-existent bosom and would have to be taken in. The seamstress was not happy.

It POURED for 48 hours before the wedding day. The rehearsal dinner at our post-wedding rental house was lovely. Tom had already moved in, I was still living with Mom and Dad. My Dad brought the slide projector and slides from my growing-up years.
Tom and I sat and talked until 11:45....because, REMEMBER THE MIDNIGHT CURFEW?
I said goodnight to him and crept out to the backyard to hang my Rosary Beads on the clothesline. It was apparently an old Catholic Wives Tale that it would bring sunshine on my wedding day.

Sept. 15, 1975 was a beautiful, sunny New England day.(UPDATE ALERT!!-We got married in 1979! Thanks for catching it, Jen!) The ceremony was exactly as I planned. My piano teacher played the organ. My uncles did the readings. I carried daisies and carnations.
The bridesmaids wore peach with crowns of flowers in their hair. I smiled a lot. At the reception there was no Father-Daughter dance and Dad cried. We boarded a plane to Florida. Everyone knew we were newlyweds because Tom's 10 yr old sister, my Jr Bridesmaid, pulled a flower from her basket and put it in my hair.

Here we are 29 years later. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HONEY!! Celebrating tomorrow with lunch and a trip to the beach sounds perfect. I still love you forever and always.

Love Story-Part Deux

Tom and I spent just about every night that summer sitting on my front porch, talking and laughing. He still hadn't asked me out on a real date.

One night, he was at a dance at the beach with some friends and I was there with a date (Tom, remember Jeff?). Jeff and I were standing at the edge of the water, listening to the music. Jeff's hands got a little too bold. I didn't think it was appropriate to try to unbutton a girl's shirt on the first date, so I ditched him and headed for Tom and his friends. I asked if I could hang out with them and get a ride home.

In August, he finally came over to ask me out on a real date, but my family had gone to CT for the day. We finally went out on a real date. That was the last First Date I ever went on. 2 weeks later we started our Senior Year in high school as official Boyfriend and Girlfriend.

Job News And A Love Story

Job News-Looking for a second job, because have you heard the ECONOMY SUCKS??!!!
Have been asked back for a second interview this afternoon. There is a teeny-tiny-pinpoint of light at the end of the tunnel.

Now, on to the LOVE`STORY. PART 1.
I take you back to 1972. I know, some of you weren't born yet, or were teeny-tiny babies.

I was a teenage Band Geek with no visible self-esteem. He was the new guy in town, football player with an ego to match his broad shoulders. He talked back to teachers. And he had a really cute Southern accent.
A year later he was dating my best friend. Football player had a career-ending knee injury. He and I flirted shamelessly all the time he was dating my friend. She knew she was moving far away at the end of the school year. She told me that he was going to move to Florida as soon as they were 18 and marry her. If I planned to date him after she was gone, she would never speak to me again.

School ended. No sooner did her family's car pull out of the driveway than he was sitting on my front porch. And he was there every night for the rest of the summer.