A Third of My Life

This post goes out to Charlie, the love of my life, who as of today I have been dating for 9 YEARS.

We started out as teenagers - I was 18, he was 19 for just a few more days. We exchanged email addresses, thinking nothing of it, and very soon were emailing each other more than 10 times a day. We went to the McNutt's farm, climbed a silo, walked in the rain and both were thinking that the other person was someone we wanted to get to know so much more. The next month and a half was filled with exchanging 'questionnaires' for each other and finding out just about everything there was to know. Mid-October held the annual Cornerstone Retreat, where we talked about dating and decided to pray about changing our status from friends to something more. On October 20, 1999, we decided that we were both all in. Charlie's fall break started that same day and we were all but inseparable for most of it. We went to Ohiopyle to do some hiking, went to the movies, got milkshakes and apple turnovers, went to my parents and his for dinners and both made the decision that we had made the right choice.

Two and a little years later, we were engaged and 8 months after that we were married. We met two days into my Sophomore year and were married two weeks after I graduated college. We have turned into adults together and have figured out life together. We were just kids when we were married... and now we have kids of our own. Reflecting on the last nine years has allowed me to remember tons of great memories that we've made and why I am so thankful that a third of my life has been shared with my best friend.