May 15, 2017

18 years

I wasn't going to write a post today, but when I realized the date, I figured I could at least share some pictures. It was exactly 18 years ago that Jerry and I went on our first date!

The day prior, we had been at our mutual friend Mike's house for a get together with friends. I knew I recognized Jerry from somewhere, and I realized that I had interviewed him about six months before when I was working on an article for my school's newspaper. I went to other schools in the county to interview students, and Jerry happened to be one of the students I'd interviewed.

At that time, I remember thinking that he was pretty cute in a funky kind of way.

But mostly, I was very impressed with his handwriting, of all things! Hahaha. He had very neat handwriting, and I thought that was pretty cool. But I was never very assertive, especially with boys, so I assumed I'd never see him again.

And then in May, I ran into him at Mike's party. We realized how we knew each other, and then we exchanged phone numbers. I wasn't sure if he'd call, but the next day, he called me and asked if I would want to go out that night. It was a cheap date--we just went to the Metropark for a long walk. We ended up strolling for a couple of hours, and wound up on a bridge overlooking the lake.

Jerry, being incredibly cheesy, started singing that song from The Little Mermaid, "Kiss the Girl". Clearly, he wanted to kiss me ;) So, we shared our first kiss on the bridge, and at that moment, I felt something deep down in my gut that was different. I knew--really knew--that we would get married someday.

When I went home that evening, I even wrote in journal that I was going to marry him one day. Fast forward four years, and we got married in August of 2003. A year after that, we had Noah. And in 2006, we had Eli, completing our family of four.

Back when we first got together, nobody believed it would be for the long haul. High school sweethearts never last, right? So, even though nobody else believed it, for us, it was almost a given. I never doubted it, and neither did he.

We were pretty much inseparable after that first date at the Metropark. And now, 18 years later, we still love each other just as much (more, probably) than ever before. We certainly had our ups and downs through the years, but I never really had the thought that one day, we wouldn't be together anymore. A cliché piece of advice is to "never go to bed angry"--but Jerry and I have lived by that for all these years. I can probably count on one hand the number of times that we didn't resolve a conflict before going to bed. I think that has been very helpful for our relationship.

So anyway, without that first date 18 years ago, my life would probably be drastically different today! I am so glad that everything worked out the way it did. And it's crazy to me that we've been together for more than half our lives now!

After I created this, I realized I used one of the pictures twice! Oh, well--
I just had to make sure that Jerry's frosted tips were somewhere in here ;)

14 comments:

  1. Congratulations Katie and Jerry

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  2. Such a great story, Katie! Congrats on 18 years! Here's to many more :)

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  3. AnonymousMay 16, 2017

    Such a lovely story! Long may it continue :)

    Coffee & Avocados

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  4. I cannot believe how you BOTH have changed so much.....Love it!! Congrats!

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  5. Congratulations to you both! You're such a cute couple!

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  6. Awe.... congratulations you two!!! And many, many more!!!

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  7. My high school boyfriend (now husband) and I recently celebrated the 48th anniversary of our first date and on Sept. 4, will celebrate 47 years of marriage. Sometimes those teenaged romances DO work out. Happy Anniversary. Here's to many more!!

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  8. Happy Anniversary! Very cute story!

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  9. Great story! Happy date-aversary!

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  10. what a great story!

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