5 Years ago today I married my very best friend. A man I met when I was 17 years ago when we both got jobs at KF pool. When I first met him, I thought he was painfully shy b/c he never said a word. But then I heard him speak and it was hilarious, and instantly I wanted to be his friend. EVERYONE loved Pat. He had a steady stream of friends come visit him throughout his shifts and if he wasn't on the lifeguard stand (no surprise), he was playing water basketball in the pool while on the clock or cooking up his usual 3 hot dogs from the snack bar. And no one called him out on it because he was so darn like able, that even his bosses let it slide.
I always looked forward to work if Pat was scheduled on my shift because he made it fun and made me laugh. And I never imagined anything more then, "I hope we'll be friends past this summer". And we were. And then through the next summer. And the next. At which time I noticed him differently. And he sought me out to chat with for an hour in the snack bar and traveled 3 hours away to a wedding with me where we got so lost and ended up arriving after the bride walked down the aisle.
Then group hangouts became one on one movie dates to see Spiderman 3. I was smitten.
And so we dated for 2 1/2 years where I watched Pat grow from fun loving boy to fun loving yet responsible man. Who learned to love Jesus. And always made me feel treasured.
On December 2,2006 he asked me to be his wife. And I almost said yes before he was done.
4 months later on April 1st, 2007 we were married.
I left my family and Pat became my core family. And if you know me at all you know how attached I am to my family. But Pat was all I wanted. I wanted to be a family with him.
So we stayed our first night in our little house in downtown Apex, and had a hilarious haphazard honeymoon.
2 months later we discovered we were pregnant. Pat cried when I gave him a little baby outfit and was even more excited then I was, even though we were surprised. But 5 weeks later we lost that baby. And I learned to love my husband even more because of how he sweetly carried me through that trial.
(Only pic I have of me newly pregnant then)
God heard our prayers and blessed us shortly after with our Fin boy.
Who ROCKED our world as we exploded into a world of baby love, no sleep, and hello-we-are-totally-responsible-for-another-human
Pat, not surprisingly, took to fatherhood amazingly, although he was a bit of a nervous Nelly. If Fin was sick, I tried to hide it from Pat b/c he would go into full blown "Take his temp every 15 minutes and OMG did he just cough?!?!?" mode. But to see this man love this little boy so much made my heart grow 80x.
And while I figured out motherhood and got my confidence, Pat loved and supported me with a gentleness that I needed.
Those days of being such a young family, so in love, are so sweet to me. We went on millions of walks, took Fin to see Dad play basketball, saved and bought our first house in Holly Springs, and became bonafide adults ;o)
In December 2009, Pat mapped out our next 2 years where we needed to save, pay off medical bills, buy a car, and then we could try to have another baby.
Less then a month later, I had gotten in a bad car accident with Fin, totaled my car, bought a newer one, and was pregnant with baby #2 unbeknown to us. Gods plans are not ours, praise the Lord.
We eagerly waited for Cole with excitement and fear on my part of "how will I love another just as much?".
But Cole came and my heart exploded again.
And I had my three boys and we learned how to be a family of four. And we still didn't sleep, but that didn't matter.
And now it's been five years. And I thank God for my husband everyday. For his sense of humor, his compassion, his work ethic, and the incredible father he is to my boys.
If the next five years are anything like the first 5...a) I need some caffeine and b) Bring it.
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