15 years Ago

15 years ago today, I went on a date with the most awesome guy I have ever known. I would have never dreamed that we would have went out. To be honest when he first ask me out I was scared. I was not scared of him, but of different things. I was going through a very difficult time in my life. Through some bad circumstances I had just ended my relationship with this other guy. (Actually he ended it)
I was scared to date again. I was so afraid of being hurt. I was not for sure if I could love anybody again? Also, this was not just anybody, who asked me out.
This was my best guy friend. This was a guy who was my strength, my laughter, my shoulder to cry on, and my brother I never had. He was a guy that made me laugh all the time. I could talk to him about anything. He was a great listener.
This guy had been my best friend for four years. This was a guy that walked me to my classes in High School, and who sat with me in the halls on our breaks. This guy was somebody who I played basketball and ping pong with. He was somebody who I went on bike rides with. This was a guy that when we was in High School, my teacher thought was my boyfriend, because we was always together. I was in my cooking class and this girl showed me her stitches from getting cut with a cat food can. It made me so sick that I passed out. When I came to the teacher was telling some of the students to go to the gym and get my boyfriend. I am thinking “My boyfriend” I knew that my boyfriend was in college who was they talking about. A few minutes later in comes this good looking guy named Kevin.
Oh its Kevin. We all laughed. He is not my boyfriend. He is just my close friend. He is just my close friend, that is Best Friends, with my boyfriend. Yes, I know it all sounds complicating. You would just have to understand the whole story.
You see, Kevin and my boyfriend was best friends and my boyfriend had no problem with Kevin and I being so close. In fact Kevin was with us most of the time we went out. I never looked at Kevin as anything more. You know though, sometimes love really is blind. I never knew how much I loved Kevin. I guess sometimes it takes a hard fall to realize some things.
I had every right to be scared to go out with Kevin. I did not want to be hurt, but more than that I did not want to loose my best friend. I did not want to go out with him, and things not work out, and then our friendship could be destroyed.
In the past I knew that there would come a day when Kevin would start dating and I would have to give up my best friend, but I figured I would deal with that when it came.
I did decide to go out with him, but I think I told him we would have to go slow because I was still having to deal with a bad situation.
I had so much fun that night. Kevin did not have a job at the time, so he did not take me anywhere fancy. Kevin also knew I didn’t like fancy places. Kevin brought me roses.
He took me to Pizza Inn. I saved the napkin from that night. Kevin wrote “ I love you” on the napkin and so I saved it. I loved him, but not the way he loved me.(I did not think)
Kevin told me that he had loved me for two years. He said he just tried not to think about it, because he knew it would never work. For one thing Kevin would have NEVER tried to interfere with mine and this other guys relationship. For another thing that was his best friend that I was dating, and I seemed happy, and Kevin knew it would never work with me and him.
From that night on I started feeling something different for Kevin. I can’t say I knew I loved him that night, but I did know that our friendship would never be the same. Kevin and I started seeing each other all the time. He treated me like a Queen. (And Still does)
In a short time my pain and hurt was gone and I knew without a doubt that I loved Kevin. Perhaps I had always loved him and just did not realize how deep. I guess it took a bad circumstance to open my blinded eyes. That is the past and a memory that has faded. I would not want to go through it again. I wish I had never went through it, but it was worth what ever pain and hurt I went through to find the true love of my life.
Kevin prayed and told God that he never wanted to hurt me. He told God that if he saw that he was going to hurt me to let our relationship end right then. I am so thankful that we are still together. This has been the best 15 years of my life. We have had some difficult times with infertility, but God has gave us grace and brought us through.
We will be married 14 years in December. Kevin told me the other night that we have been together half of our life. We really have.
I know our 15th Wedding Anniversary will be more special than this Anniversary, but I wanted to do something special to remember our first date. The Pizza Inn that we went to 15 years ago is gone. I found another one about 25 minutes from here. I got a babysitter and took Kevin out. I even got a napkin and wrote “I love you. Your still the one” on it.