Love and Marriage

I was only 22 years old when I sat down at a picnic table and said hello to the handsome man who would become my husband. With mutual friends in common we became friends over a matter of months. Soon, what was a large group of friends was just four. Again, in the hospital, one friend went out of her way to come and visit.

Really, that’s how it all started. I was in the hospital and my friend would call his friend for a ride then the three of them would drive over a half hour one way to sit in my hospital room and visit. Oh, how I still love that girl though life has taken us on different paths we still talk occasionally.

About six months after my 23rd birthday my husband and I started dating. I fell in love quickly. Everything from the way he would open the car door to the little sweet things like putting together a desk for me. He was a prince and I felt like a princess. We came to Vegas for the first time while we were engaged. However, it was so important to my mother than we be married in a church we didn’t do it.

My husband and I married on my parent 30th Anniversary and we’ve been married over 12 years now. Please don’t do the math, mom says a lady never tells her true age, I’m 29. Anyway, my wedding was small, in the church just up the hill from my parents home. We had paid for a honeymoon a few months afterwards in the Bahamas. However, President Bush declared War and a another friend was stranded on vacation in Mexico when 9/11 happened; so, I made the call not to leave the country and we got a refund.

When we met we were two individuals however we quickly bonded building a future. I was in my first year of college and he was into his first year as a driver for Pepsi when we married. We started out with so much hope and promise and though we’ve been through many struggles the Lord has seen us through to today.

I feel, today, we are living a dream. We live in a city people save all year just to visit, perfect weather, though we share one car it is much nicer than the two beat up cars we had when we moved in together, and the condo we rent is affordable. I’ve started a small business as [email protected] which I like to think of as Stephanie Ann Is… though my name is Stephanie Annis.

When we married we started learning how to live again together. Today, I couldn’t imagine my life without him. He’s my best friend, confidant, and soul support. He keeps me grounded when I’m freaking out and afraid everything will fall apart again. We know life can change instantly so we make sure to focus on happiness and being present.