HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, MY LOVE!~

Thirty years ago today, October 7, 1978, I was in a white dress and veil walking down the isle to say I do to the love of my life, Donnie. Just months before, I had broken off an engagement with another guy that I had dated for probably 1.5 years. Donnie had also just been through a prior fairly long relationship where there had been talk of marriage. It is at this time of my reminiscing that I am glad that those prayers I prayed to God to be with the one prior to Donnie went unanswered. Donnie, too, had prayed and prayed about being with his prior girlfriend. They had planned to grow old and gray together and he was quite devastated when she broke things off with him, but you see, God had another plan…

It started one night when my sister wanted me to go with her to her boyfriend, Melvin’s church to meet a friend of his. She was telling me how goodlooking she thought this guy was and how she felt we would be perfect for each other. I still wasn’t over my boyfriend, but I went along with it basically to humor her. This guy she wanted me to meet was a drummer and the gospel group he was with was playing that night at this church.

We drove and drove and drove as I followed her directions. I remember thinking to myself how this church was way out in the sticks. It seemed like we would never get there (funny, this road would end up becoming where I would spend the majority of my life). When we arrived at the church, the service had already started, but I could hear the drums from outside the church. When my sis and I entered, the group members smiled at us as we got seated. They sang for a while and then there was an intermission. Word had gotten around that I wanted to meet the drummer, nevermind that he was already dating a girl from within the church who thankfully happened not to be there that night. My sister’s boyfriend’s brother introduced us. At that time platform shoes were in style (I called them stacks). Don’t know if you know what those are or not, but they were shoes with big platforms like probably 5-6 inches thick. Donnie and I are the same height, so these shoes made me much taller. A few minutes after we first got introduced, another guy came up whom I would find out much later was one of his many cousins.

He said, “Donnie, there is an old long-legged girl around here looking for you.”

I was standing right there. Everybody laughed while I turned like three shades of red. It was the first time I had ever met this cousin and I didn’t know how to take him. Anyway, my hubby-to-be was very nice to me. We talked for a few minutes and the singing got started back, so my sis and went back and sat down in the pews. I was 18, but still living at home and I was driving my Mom’s station wagon. She had given my sis and I a curfew, so we had to be back home before the singing was over. As I was leaving the church, I turned back around and smiled real big at Donnie. He smiled back. He has such an awesome smile. I can even remember thinking, I will see you again Donnie! If memory serves me correctly, this took place in February of 1978.

On April 19th, my future Hubby’s twin got married to a girl I knew from school. The group Donnie was with played for the wedding. The pianist was a friend and knew I wanted to hook up with Donnie.

After the wedding, he said, “Donnie, there is a girl who has been wanting to meet you.”

So, next thing I know, they are both knocking on my door. My Mom let us go into my bedroom and play records with the understanding the door would remain open.

I made the mistake of saying that night, “You are lucky you caught me at home. I am usually out partying.”

Immediate turn off for Donnie. His former girlfriend had liked to party and he was as straightlaced as they come. He didn’t come back for several days. I asked Melvin, my sister’s boyfriend why I had not heard anymore from him. He said he didn’t know, but he would call him and find out.

They talked for a few minutes and I heard Melvin say, “Aw man, she really isn’t like that. She and her boyfriend just broke up and this is how she has been drowning in her sorrows. She really is a good Christian girl. Her Dad is a minister.”

I can’t remember if he came on over that night or maybe it was the next night, but he did come back. I don’t think he was really interested in dating me at that point, he just wanted to get me back in church. We spent every minute of every day that we could after our jobs in the evenings for the next couple of weeks. Mostly, we rode around and talked about our goals in life. The more time we spent together, the more we realized we wanted the same things in life.

As I wrote in a prior entry, after a couple of weeks of spending as much time as we could together, we were standing out under the stars one night in my parent’s front yard. We had again been talking about our future and what we wanted. We had fallen for each other by this time. It was hard not to, he was and still is a very attractive man. He didn’t ask me to marry him in the traditional sense, he just looked at me and said, “Do you really think you could spend the rest of your life with me?”

I looked him in the eye and said, “There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever.”

And the rest is history, as they say. We were married five months later. I was 19 and he was 22. Today, we celebrate 30 years together. The majority of it has been wonderful. I thank God for him every single day. He is THE love of my life. I felt very blessed and when I didn’t think it could get any better, we were blessed with a beautiful baby boy on August 6, 1982, during our 4th year of marriage. He became the joy of our lives. On May 23, 1992, during the 14th year of our marriage, we were again blessed with a beautiful baby girl. After several miscarriages, I didn’t think I would ever have another baby, but I guess the good Lord felt differently. I have always called her my miracle baby or my Angel baby. My family is my life (Please see my entry titled My Legacy)!

My prayer is that my children will find a life partner like I did who will love them for who they are and cherish them as their Dad and I have cherished each other for these past 30 years. I want everybody to have what I have been blessed enough to have. The road sometimes got rocky, but we were committed to each other and loved each other enough that we have always worked it out. This entry is dedicated to my handsome, wonderful, awesome Hubby. Happy Anniversary, my Love! I hope God sees fit to let us have 30 more together!

Forever and Always Yours,

Susan