Love At First Sight - An Ode to us, to our Love

Seven years ago today, I married the man who captured my heart after only first locking eyes with him. 

Love at first sight. 

What does it feel like? How do you know when it's happening?

For me... the only way I can describe it is....

He instantly felt "right" to me. 

Being in his presence, talking with him, laughing with him, his eyes & body language... 

It all just felt... Right. 

As if I'd already known him in some other lifetime, and was just meeting him again in this lifetime. 

This may or may not make any sense whatsoever to you, but that is exactly how it felt. 

We met in the tattoo shop he owned at the time in Georgia, with our first meeting consisting of him mending the wrongly done belly piercing someone else did, and ended with me wanting a new belly ring from his display case but I was several dollars short, so I tried to negotiate the price down... well.. I didn't just TRY.. 

You could see the instant connection within his eyes.. the compassion behind all of the facial piercings and "tough guy" image he'd spent years building up as he smiled like a school boy saying he'd take what I had and make up the difference himself, as I clumsily counted pennies, dimes and nickles on his counter. 

I've always been a body-language observer... The way people move, respond, turn, laugh and the expression & depth within their eyes... 

Paul has such an attractive smile. It radiates in his entire face. His eyes light up.. OH.. 

AND he has dimples. Oh yes. LOL Handsome times 100 points for dimples!!!! I always wanted a man AND kids with dimples! I got them. :)

A person's body language, especially their eyes, shows us the true person underneath. The person at the heart, and not the body they walk around in. 

Watching him converse with people, I believe the conscious thought (or at  least something similar) appeared in my brain...

"I know him. I'm going to know him. He's familiar... and I think I already love him." 

He asked for my number and after spending all night (for several nights) on the phone, the strong, pure, unmistakable chemistry we instantly felt upon only first meeting naturally grew.... 

And the rest is history. :)

Before we knew it (2 years later) we were driving across country starting our new life together and leaving all we had ever known behind us as we were running off to get married, which ended up being aboard the Portland Spirit River Cruise in Portland, OR.  #magical <--that deserved a hastag 

And here I am, 7 years later writing about a time that honestly seems like it was just a year or two ago. 

I would be lying through my teeth if I told you it has been easy. 

Just because you find your other-half and seemingly missing link on too many levels to mention... does not by any means indicate that the road to a long a happy life together will be peaches & cream. (peaches & cream... mm.. That's my Southern roots showing!)

In these 7 years together, we have learned (both as individuals & as a couple) so much about ourselves, about life, about other people.

We see the world differently now, and through it all, we have grown so much internally that it's as if the people we were when we first met seem like babies (spiritually speaking) compared to who we are today. 

It's amazing to me how you can look back at just the last few years of your life and know that you've come so far since then. I just love this life. :)

Something I learned and will always carry with me, is not only realizing the extraordinary love & devotion my husband has for me and our relationship... 

But I also learned what LOVE means. What MARRIAGE means. What "FOR BETTER or WORSE" means. 

Not by definition, but by living through it, working through it and by being on the other end of it here today, completely in love, happy and closer than ever. 

The way Paul loves me, the way I have seen him fight for our love, for our family and what we have... 

The incredible integrity this man has by being careful to not just criticize me when our relationship hit a brick wall, but by also looking within himself to evaluate what he could be doing differently... 

The bravery and courage he has shown countless times over the years... 

The way he tirelessly works to better all of our lives, doing all he can to make each of us happy, being sure we all live a quality life as individuals, as a mother, as his children, as his friend, as his family... 

The way he will go through great lengths just to see us smile... 

That's my man!

Over these past 7 years I have learned the meaning of 'being a Man'. My husband is the true, walking, real definition of a man. An honorable, wonderful man.

It is without a doubt in my mind that I am more in love with him now than ever before.

Today, on our seventh (marriage) anniversary, I want to say Thank You. 

Thank you, my love, for all that you do, for all that you are,and for all that you will be in this adventure of Life that we vowed to accompany each other on. 

After my Papa passed away recently, at least once a week I talk with my dear Granny on the phone who he left behind and we just sit and sob together. She feels like a lost puppy without the man she was married to for more than 50 years. 

She looks at his empty recliner next to hers. 
She lays her hand on his side of the bed and clutches his pillow, crying herself to sleep every night. 
She reads his beautiful words he wrote her over the years, as that is all she has left of him... which is now the only way she can feel the love of her life touch her. 

How empty she feels... how fast all that time flew by... How painful it is for her.

And so now, once a week at minimum, I am reminded to stop, appreciate, love and cherish my husband, my other half. 

For one day, he will leave my side in this bodily world, and one day it will be ME who is the lost puppy, grasping on to the remnants of all that he was in this world. 

All that I am as a mommy, a wife, as Amanda up to this point in our lives, has everything to do with the beautiful partnership that we share. 

Our love is seamless ~ Our minds, hearts & souls are connected ~ We flow like a steady river current ~ 

We are ONE. 

"All because two people fell in love", as it says on the 50th Anniversary Invitations for Granny & Papa.

Here's to us and many, many, many more years together. Here's to our Little Nippers too. ;) 

You are my rock. You are my best friend. You are so amazing. 

I loves you, honey... more than I could ever express. 

You are truly the most admirable man I have ever known and will ever love.

Thank you for loving me the way you do.

Happy Anniversary my love.

Love, baby xxxooo