It was November in 1991 when Kate and I started dating. Being a bit modest I’m not at liberty to talk about the full circumstances surrounding how we started this romance bit I can say it was innocent, high school love. Neither of us had any real responsibilities, no career, and no commitments…it was the life (or so I thought). No, it wasn’t love at first sight….sure that’d make for a better story but the truth was I remember one of the first things I said to Kate when we talked about making the relationship exclusive was, “My priorities are school, wrestling then you.” Sound mean? Maybe, but I’ve always been frank and at the time that’s pretty much where things stood (being a father now, rightfully so). What’s so special about those first few months was she took what evertime I could get her. A typical day back then was up at 5am for a five mile jog, school, wrestling practice, dinner and then a trip to the gym to do some lifting and some time in the sauna. This clearly limited how much time we could spend together but Kate never complained.
Now the start of this romance isn’t all macho, yes, even back then I had an ego (unfortunately I’m still carrying it around a bit). The missing part of the story that is that I chased Kate…hard. See, she was trying to hook-up with a wrestling buddy of mine and as a result I had a lot of incidental contact with her. It started off innocent enough, she wanted him, I was busy, it was all good. After a while, though, this cute, freckle-faced girl from Clinton, Iowa caught my eye. Why? Ever been around people that just know how to have fun? That’s Kate. To this day even being a wife, mother or three beautiful girls and being the glue that holds this family together she still knows how to cut loose. I love that about her. The thing about infectious personalities like that is once you experience that free, fun spirit you can’t get enough. That was me. So while I made it clear that after school and wrestling I’d make time for her the truth was I couldn’t wait to get done with school and training to spend as much time with her as I could. That’s love in it’s purest form. How pure was it?
I’m not gonna lie, at 18 and dating a girl nearly two years younger not to mention college looming I had a lot of impure thoughts. Hey, what can I say? Even back then she put it on me and I was hooked. I’m talking give her my last dollar hooked. I’m talking late night phone calls until ridiculous times in the morning hooked. You know, the kind of calls that would always end with
Me: "...you hang up." Her: "No, you hang up." Me: "No, you hang up first" [continue for 10 minutes]
Ten years after our nuptials I’m still hooked. Sure the love morphs a bit, adapts to life’s current situations but it’s still there and as strong as ever. As we approach our 10 year anniversary on June 5th, I’m going to share special moments in our marriage. The moments, good and bad, that have made this marriage work to the point I have no doubt we can enjoy another 10! Kate, I love you!