I met my husband, Steve, 22 years ago in a social services class. He is, by far, the best thing I took away from college. I loved getting to know him. He was funny but never at anyone’s expense. He was tough without being cruel, and sensitive without being weak. His ability to balance those character traits so perfectly was appealing to me. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s really nice to look at. I still tease him by telling him that I fell in love with him for his car. When we met, he was driving an old Buick Regal that was destroyed by hail. That car told me a lot about him. He knew how to change a tire, his hands were rough from hard work, and he wasn’t afraid to get dirty. I knew this was the kind of man I wanted to tackle life with. At the age of 26 he already had a decisiveness and confidence that still makes me feel safe to this day.
We dated for about a year before he proposed to me on the top of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga TN. I wanted to elope and get married that very day. Steve wanted a wedding, so we compromised and decided to get married one month later. I don’t know who had more on their plate…my mother who had a month to throw together a wedding for a bride who wanted to skip it and elope, my father who found himself paying for a wedding with one month’s notice, or our (deep in Hoosier country) guests who were trying to figure out how to get to the wedding without missing March Madness. I was never the little girl who had a big dream wedding planned out. My big dreams were about the man, the marriage, and our life together. We promised our forevers to each other on March 22, 20003 and that's how our family began! (We eventually renewed our vows in Las Vegas with Elvis, and it surprised me to discover-that was the wedding of my dreams!)
