28 Years!

On January 5, 1980 my dad and mom pledged their love and lives to one another in a beautiful wedding ceremony in San Diego, CA. They had only known each other for six months, but as they always say, "when you know, you know."

My parents met in the summer of 1979 at the pool in their apartment complex. My dad had finished four years of service in the Navy and had just graduated from San Diego State University (a four year undergrad degree program that he finished in something like two years...yea, he's really smart!). My mom was working at a bank in the area. My dad asked my mom out at the poolside that day. Two weeks later, on July 4th, he asked her to marry him. Her response: she had to think about it! (That still makes me smile/laugh!!) Can you really blame her, though...it had only been two weeks. The next day she obviously said "yes," and their journey together began.

My dad left at the end of the summer and moved to Illinois to attend law school. My mom stayed in San Diego to work and plan their wedding. They wrote to each other often (real handwritten letters, there was no e-mail back then, of course!) and talked on the phone regularly. They saw each other once during that semester when my mom flew to Illinois to look at apartments with my dad.

During my dad's semester/winter break, he flew to California and on January 5th my parents were married! After the wedding my parents had no honeymoon (no time - dad had to get back to school for the Spring semester, and a lack of funds played factor as well!). Instead, they packed up my mom's car and drove from CA to IL to start their life together. The rest is history, my friends.

I love you, Mom and Dad! Thank you for sharing your beautiful love story with me. I have always believed in lasting love and that marriages can be for a lifetime because of your example. Thank you for staying together, for working things out in good times and bad. Thank you for being a REAL example for me. I am forever grateful...

Happy 28th Anniversary! Here's to many, many more!