Our 20th Anniversary

Yes, today is the big day! Today is my and Nicky's 20th wedding anniversary. Wow! It's been one heck of a ride, but I wouldn't change anything. So, you wanna hear the story??

Nicky and I met sometime in the early part of 1985, through some mutual friends. We both kind of liked each other, but looking back, I know it wasn't the right time, so nothing happened. We didn't see each other for 2 years! Two years later, in January of 1987, I was out with a friend and so was he. We were at a local bowling alley. He spotted me, but I never saw him til he came up to me and said hi. I said hi back, and did recognize him, but could not remember his name. As if he knew what I was thinking, he said,"Nick, in case you don't remember." And in my unfortunate tactlessness answered, "Thanks. I did forget." (Can you believe I said that??) Fortunately, he was interested enough that he pushed on through. My friend and I were on the waiting list for a pool table, and being a Friday night, we had a long wait. So after Nicky & I ran into each other, I introduced him to my friend and the 3 of us sat down at a table to chat. Mind you, at this time I had little interest in him, other than him being a nice guy. Anyhoo, we sat at that table for one whole hour and Nicky talked the whole entire time! Now, if you know Nicky I'm sure you think I'm exaggerating because this is unheard of, but I promise I'm not. My poor friend kept giving me the eye to ditch this guy before we get talked to death, all the while rolling her eyes at me. But I was polite and listened, and even participated, but was very relieved when they finally called our name. Nicky walked us to our table, then took out a business card for the company he was currently working for and wrote his phone number on the back. Then he said to me, "If you ever want to go out, call me." I was so shocked because no guy had ever told me to call them, and I wasn't about to start now. Then he hugged me! I barely knew this guy! (BTW, I still have that business card!)

Well, the next week, I saw one of the mutual friends who introduced us at the local university I was attending, and this friend worked. He told me he heard I'd seen Nicky at the bowling alley and I said, "Yeah. And you know what he did? He gave me his phone number and told me to call him if I ever wanted to go out. Can you believe that? You tell that boy that if he wants to go out, he can call me." The friend answered,"I don't think he has your number." I responded, "Well, here it is, so he has no excuse." Now, I really didn't expect him to call, but he did! He called 3-4 times a week for about a month, then finally asked me out. He asked me for Friday, but I had already made plans with a friend, so we planned to go out on Thursday night. (This part is so cute!) When we hung up, he ran out to his parents to tell them I'd said yes and we were going out on Thursday night. His dad asked how he was going to pay for it since didn't get paid til Friday. He stopped dead in his tracks then had an idea. He emptied his change bank in his room out and rolled all the change then took it to the bank to get bills. He had almost $30! Enough for a movie and ice cream afterwards. Pretty cool, huh? He had just turned 19.

Our first date was on Thursday, February 19, 1987 and we never looked back from there. He gave me a cute little gold and diamond promise ring in May, then we became officially engaged on January 10, 1988. We set the wedding for January 27, 1989.

I told you before about my grandma taking my picture on my wedding day morning, while I contemplated the coming events of the day. This is that picture.

Cute, huh? This next picture was taken after the ceremony. We had been taking tons of pictures and the photographer had to change film, so we sat down, right there on the stage. We were so tired of standing. My aunt had her own camera & was taking all sorts of candid pictures. I think those are my favorite. Anyhoo, I love this picture of us sitting on the floor with Nicky's parents standing behind us looking down at us. I think it's so cute. And, as a bonus, my dad is on the left side of the picture walking by. You can't see him here, but he's in the real photo.

Of course the cake eating picture. I told Nicky he wasn't allowed to squash cake in my face. I told him he had to be nice. I wasn't sure what he'd do, knowing it was tempting for him to squash, but he was nice. :-) Our cake was beautiful and hand-made by a friend. Can you believe I still have some of the icing flowers in my freezer?? No, we won't eat them, but I thought they were so pretty I had to keep them. Weird, I know. What can I say? lol
This was one of our official photos. Isn't it sweet? You can see my dress pretty well, but you can't get a good look at our faces. We look like we're 12, especially Nicky, but he was just 21 and I was 20.

Well, that's our story, at least the main parts. Nicky is a wonderful man and the perfect husband for me. I am so blessed that he loves me and that even through hard times our marriage has lasted, and even blossomed. We have so much fun together and have grown closer and more in love as the years have gone by. I can honestly say it's only gotten better and I'm looking forward to the next 20 years with great anticipation. :-)