Happy Birthday, Hubby!

September 17, 1982

Today marks 26 years of one man's life. One man who plays so many roles: husband, son, brother, friend, leader, colleague, confidant, provider, encourager.

When you first meet someone, do you evaluate all of the roles they play in life before you develop a relationship? Probably not. I was an 18-year-old girl, a new freshman at the local community college when I went out to dinner one night. Confused about the world and where I fit in it, I drove the long car ride from Severna Park up to Towson to meet my older sister, Christina, thinking the whole way about where I was headed. Perplexed and undecided, I fumbled out of my car carelessly, not realizing the fate that would meet me at 7:30 p.m. that October night inside a Bill Bateman's Bistro. I looked over the vast sea of people, all swimming in their own personalities and dramas. I found my sister at a table with this guy in a chunky winter sweater, heavy silver glasses, dark, curley hair and a smile that instantly melted my cold and tired heart. There was a genuine air about this guy that made me like him right away. As he lead my sister and me in conversation, I stared intently at him thinking of what more made up this person. Where was his heart? Where was he going in this life? Is this just a front?

After beating him in a wing-eating contest that night (it was Monday night - all you can eat wings), I left feeling overly stuffed, intrigued and discontented at the same time. Overly stuffed because I had eaten a ridiculous amount of chicken wings. Intrigued that I had met and (what I thought) dissected this man's personality. Discontented that I had to return to my reality after my 45-minute car ride home.

Over two months later, I was headed up to UMBC to study for my final exams. I called Christina to have her meet me for dinner, but she was busy. "Call Bob," she said. "Who?" I got an intense feeling in my stomach almost instantly, but why? "Ok, fine," I thought, "I haven't talked to the guy in a few months, but whatever. We had a good time then." Christina called him and told him to meet me at the library that afternoon. After about 30 minutes of severe procrastination, someone tapped me on the shoulder and did that lame joke where they pretend not to be there. It was Bobby. He sat down and was so comfortable, which put me at ease, after all, he still was almost a stranger. After about an hour of childish school-kid flirting in the library, we both realized we weren't getting any work done! I was floating about a mile-high from all the butterflies in my stomach when he finally said, "Wanna get out of here?" All of a sudden the scene from Top Gun started playing in my head where Maverick and "Charlie" ride off into the sunset on his morotcycle and the song "Highway to the danger zone" starts blasting. Not really, but I did feel like we were in a movie right then. I was whisked off to the local Olive Garden in a little, silver Ford Echo to have the conversation of my life with my future husband, although I didn't know it at the time.

It's been almost 3 years since that night. We've had countless conversations since and I'm still just getting to know this 26-year old man. However, what I see of him so far makes me the proudest "18-year-old girl," girlfriend, wife, best-friend, work-out buddy, kitchen-stadium competitor and companion. Happy Birthday, B, my studly compliment.

My cute Eagle Scout doing push-ups on top of the mountain.
First dating... headed to a friends' wedding.
Practicing for our wedding kiss - this is how he kissed me on the day!The most handsome guy at my cousin's wedding a month before we got hitched.
The happiest day of my life.

Honeymooning in Mexico... and the smile that melted my heart.