16 years

In the Spring of 1994, I sat down next to my future husband on the school bus. We made small talk. I complained about my loser boyfriend. We continued to chit chat on the rides home through May and June, and on the last day of school, we traded yearbooks. In my usual fashion, I scrawled “KIT!” along with my phone number.

I really didn’t give him any thought in those first couple weeks of summer vacation. I wasn’t really aware that he still kept in touch with my BFF Melissa who had moved to another town our freshman year. By fate though, I called her while she was on the other line with him. They had an extra ticket to Darien Lake, our local theme park, and he suggested that I join them. I couldn’t even tell you today how I got my mother to say yes to driving an hour in a car with an 18-year-old boy she’d never met, but I did.

And from there, we were inseparable; the best of friends. I knew that I had feelings for him, but was not sure that he felt the same. My mother, who had said at first “You are 15 years old, Sara. You are not dating an 18-year-old.”, had changed her tune and wondered when we would get together. Still though, I was worried that he didn’t like me like that.

But then, as we spent the weekend at Melissa’s father’s place watching Woodstock ’94 on pay per view, it all became clear. And after he’d left and I stayed behind, the phone rang and Melissa put it to my ear. That day, Ed asked me to be his girlfriend, and 16 years later to the day, we have never looked back.

Happy 16 years to my Hub and me, and here’s to 116 more.

Ed and me in our high school cafeteria, 1994