For Richer and Poorer? Better AND Worse?

When asked to share the story about my first love and whether or not it lasted, that was a loaded question.  When I think about my first love, I realize it was not love at all. I had to kiss a lot of frogs before meeting my prince.  Many times what I thought was love was merely a romance.  Although I can chalk those times up to experience, I wonder if it would be ideal to just skip all that and go to the real deal. What do you think?

To answer the question submitted to me by another blogger, Little Piece of Peace I will share my love story that started 45 years ago.

I saw him on the other side of the roller rink at the church skating party and wondered how to approach him.  He had been the guest speaker at my church on Sunday and I was smitten.  Eventually, I got up the nerve to skate a little closer to him and say "Hi, I'm Carol." He smiled, nodded and sped off.

I saw him at various church functions and 'created' the opportunity to double date with him and another girl. I enjoyed his company but assumed he was never going to be interested in me.  I tried.  I failed.

Months went by. Pulling into my driveway on a warm Tuesday afternoon in late summer,  I noticed his car parked about a block away. "That's odd, why is Paul in this neighborhood?" I wondered. 

No one locked their doors in the 1970's.  I went to the back of the house to bring my groceries into the kitchen and there sat Paul. On my sofa. In my living room. Looking sheepish.

Hundreds of thoughts raced through my head and they were mostly negative. I imagined I had offended him in some way and he was there to tell me off. What came out of his mouth had me staring at him with my mouth open, unable to speak and looking like an idiot.

"I have been watching you for a long time and have grown to like you very much. I was wondering if we could go to dinner sometime."

"Uh huh." I answered nodding in disbelief.

We spent the evening chatting and getting to know each other; there was no doubt in my mind. This was the guy I was going to marry.

He called the next day to tell me he couldn't wait for dinner and was wondering if I would have lunch with him instead.

We met at noon. When the waiter asked us for our order we told him we needed more time. After coming back three times to take our order we told him we weren't hungry. The reason? Paul had just asked me to MARRY HIM and we still had not had our first date.  Could he have been playing hard-to-get all along?  On November 24, 1972, we married in Las Vegas and the rest.........well, you know.

Carol and Paul, November 24, 1972

I love him more today than I did 44 years ago.  But any of you who have been married for a long time know that it grows; it is deeper and you only feel complete when you are together.  

Our lives together have been battered, bruised and broken numerous times.  The trauma we had to endure is more than any one couple should have to go through.  But we stayed together....for better and yes, for worse.

This has been a blogging challenge called Secret Subject Swap.  Each of the participating bloggers is given a secret question to answer.  Check out the other bloggers and their stories - you'll be glad you did.

Baking in a Tornado
Not That Sarah Michelle
The Bergham Chronicles
Spatulas on Parade
The Diary of an Alzheimer's Caregiver
The Lieber Family Blog
Dinosaur Superhero Mommy
Simply Shannon
A Little Piece of Peace
Confessions of a part time working mom
The Angrivated Mom Blog
Climaxed

Photos courtesy of wallpaperspots and unityinmarin.org