four years

today, 1, 461 days, 208 mondays and 4 years have passed since i first met the man that I now call "husband".

i remember that night very vividly, he was late. thirty long minutes late for our first date - not good. i was still hopeful, but was sweating by this point and was worried my hair had gone flat. i called erika to tell her that i had been stood up -the nerve! and then, there he was. it was unmistakeably him. tall. very tall. just like rosemary said he was. we walked towards each other and stopped, both smiling sheepishly. he said, "you must be lauren". i tried to stifle my smile and said, "you must be ryan and you're late." apparently, i had the wrong restaurant. but he found me. and i will never forget the outfit he was wearing and how handsome i instantly thought he was.

we ate sushi and the margarita i ordered to "take the edge off" ended up taking me off my a-game. i was so nervous and now tipsy too. not a good combination. but he was such a gentleman and laughed at my stupid jokes and got me water. he didn't drink and I remember worrying he was either a prude or a recovering addict. Now, I realize this was a good sign and luckily he is neither an addict nor a prude.

the next day was halloween, and we talked about our costumes. he told me that he wanted to dress up like an old man and rent a lark to ride around in at work. i thought it was one of the funniest things i had ever heard. we still laugh about it. he wouldn't leave until we planned a second date.

he left and the next afternoon, i called my mom and giddily told her that i was sure i had gone on my last first date.

***

from that first night that we met, 1,461 days ago, we couldn't get enough of each other. I still feel like that and hope that we always will.



thank you for the best, luckiest and biggest four years of my little life, Bebe. I love you long time.





P.S. The above picture is the first picture we took together...on Christmas morning in 2006. It is still, our favorite picture together.