15 Years Ago...

15 years ago today, I married Mr Cool. Boy, does that make me feel O.L.D! I tell people that I was allowed to get married at 15... but this is a lie.


When I think back to our wedding day, I have mixed emotions. Now, I know that probably sounds bad, but it was not the greatest time in my life. We married in December, but, in the May before our wedding, I contracted two blood borne viruses: Ross River Virus and Barmah Forest Virus. Both of these wreaked havoc on my body. 


I slept for more than 14 hours a day, not able to make it through a whole day without napping. I would have to nap several times a day just to cope, my uni grades went south pretty quickly and I just wasn't coping very well. I had the maximum doses of Vitamin B injections at least once a week. The hardest part of it all was my loss of short term memory. What this means is that I don't really remember much of that year, or the subsequent one. I don't remember making wedding plans or how I came to pick my dress. It is just a blank. It took at least three years before I started to have regular sleep patterns again and before I started to get some sort of immunity against any virus that walked my way.


So... when it comes to my wedding day. I really don't remember much. I remember driving to the church. I remember 'The Kiss' and I remember the drunk lady who yelled advice to me as we walked into the honeymoon suite at our motel. I don't remember much of the speeches, the guests, the flowers. I don't remember who gave me what or who said what. I do remember that no-one gave us a toaster, we had to go and buy one of those. If I think about it too much, I get a little sad. 


But, then I think of Mr Cool. He is currently patiently sitting and reading while I madly type away so that I can get something ready for the blog tomorrow. He is amazing.


I think of all the adventures we have had. We have caught planes, trains, buses, taxis, boats, ships and trams all over the world. We have made three of the most amazing children I have ever met {I am allowed to say this, this is my blog after all} and we are doing a good job of keeping them alive and mostly happy. We own {well, we pay the mortgages} of several properties and we have a plan for our future. These things mean more to me than who gave us the feather quilt or the coffee machine. 


Weddings are lovely, but, it is what happens in the years after the wedding that make all the difference. Mr Cool and I have spent years perfecting our communication, we speak deeply all the time and we are {usually} on the same page about almost everything. 


For a long time I thought that we were pretty normal. But, after this year, the year where 4 of our close friends have had major marital woes, we see that we are not normal. We are blessed. 


Tonight night we are going out for a fancy dinner. I am sure that there will be lots of reminiscing and lots of laughter. There will also be that quiet moment when we look into each other's eyes with anticipation of what the next 15 years will bring. 


I love you Mr Cool. I am so glad you are in my life. In the words of Whitney Houston from The Bodyguard, "I have nothing if I don't have you".


Mwah.

RemembeRED - Pivotal Conversations

I guess I have been a bit obsessed with my relationship with Mr Cool lately... We are fast approaching our 15th Wedding anniversary and it has me reflecting about all sorts of things. It seemed fitting to use this conversation.... 

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Pre-Proposals....

Mr Cool and I were enjoying living in the same city again, being at the same university was icing on the cake. It was a heady time of seeing each other a lot more and our seeing our relationship growing stronger and stronger.


"Wow, look at that! They have emerald rings on sale at the jeweller!" I really didn't mean to say it out loud, but perhaps I was testing whether Mr Cool was serious about recent talks about getting engaged.


"I think we need to sit down for a bit," Mr Cool seemed serious and quiet. "I need to ask you something. I want to look at rings with you, but I need to know something first."


My head began racing, my heart started thumping. On the one hand, I was so excited that Mr Cool was about to ask me to marry him, but on the other, I didn't want to be asked in a shopping centre!


He took both my hands in his. "Now, listen carefully. I do want to marry you, but I need to know that if I ask you to marry me, which I am NOT, will you say yes?" 


"Oh my goodness, are you asking me to marry you! Oh my goodness!"


"No, you aren't listening. I am not asking you to marry me. I am asking that IF I asked you to marry me, would you say yes?"


I am not sure of my actual response, it may not have even been actual words, but we then made our way back to the jeweller and selected a ring. I really wanted an emerald ring. Emeralds are my birth stone and I just loved that they were not diamonds {in the 1990s being different was important}. 


I look at my ring often. It is not encrusted with diamonds. It is quite simple. It is exactly what I wanted. If I had the choice of all the rings in Tiffany's or the one Mr Cool bought me on that day, I would still choose mine. 



Recreate a pivotal conversation with us this week. Remember, this is memoir.You can only record what was actually said. Save the bon mots and imagined snappy retorts for fiction.  Let’s shoot for 300 words.