Life as we know it ...: Valentine's Day thoughts

With Mark still out on the rig and the house having been sanitized by Joyce again yesterday, I had plenty of time this Valentine's Day weekend to sit down and give some thought to Mark's and my relationship. Now don't get all concerned. In fact, just thinking about us makes me smile. Who could ever have imagined "back in the day" that we would end up where we are today?? Not only not us, but none of our friends or family either, I would guess. ;-) As I was telling someone not long ago, neither of us were considered candidates for "happily ever after" by much of anyone back then.

We had both been asking everyone we knew if they couldn't introduce us to someone we might enjoy going out with. (We had finally figured out at that point that meeting people in places like bars was NOT a good plan!) Everyone gave it their best shot, but it obviously never occurred to anyone to introduce us to each other! Conversations along that line usually included something like "What about Sharon? . . . naah. That'd never work." "What about Mark? Mark and SHARON?? . . . no WAY!"

And eventually, never having even met Mark, I got a grant to go back to college at the University of Texas in Arlington and moved away from Baton Rouge. That would have been the end of it, I guess. But then a year or so later, my best friend got married to his best friend and I came back to BR for the wedding where I finally met Mark. But he had come with his very cute sister, Vickie, and I thought she was his wife or girlfriend or something so, although I definitely noticed him (I've always been a fan of really BIG guys) I didn't make any move to talk with him since I assumed he was "taken." It was only later, talking to Janet, when I asked who that big guy at the reception was, that she figured out that I actually meant Mark! So when I next came back to BR to visit Janet and Mike, they invited Mark to go out to eat with us -- and that was the beginning. Thanks, guys!

At first we were just good friends. We had a lot of fun together when I visited BR, and we e-mailed back and forth all the time, but that was it. After I graduated in '92 I moved up to Cincinnati (well, Northern Kentucky, actually -- I was trying to qualify for in-state tuition for Chase Law School) and he came up to visit me there. But we were still just friends.

Then not long after that, I went down to BR to visit again and for some reason we ended up going out ALONE -- I think for the first time. Not sure what it was that flipped the switch, but all of a sudden we were definitely more than friends! It took us all of about two months from that day to get married and move me, all my stuff, and all my animals (lots of dogs and cats but not yet horses) back down to Louisiana. (We really like that Johnny Cash song about getting married in a fever. Smile.) Given the fact that I had been divorced for more than 30 years by then, and Mark had been divorced for over 15 years, our marriage was a HUGE surprise to virtually everyone -- probably including Mark! I'm much more of a "go for it and give it some further thought later" sort, but he is usually a much more careful sort.

Usually.

But here we are -- we've been married 12 years now. That's a record for both of us -- in so many senses! And we are actually HAPPY!

Mark's 2-on, 2-off job on oil rigs was probably a huge help in the beginning, though. We both had a little problem adjusting to having someone else to consider before making any decisions for a change. But each time we reached a point where we felt like decking the other person, it was time for him to head back to work. And in two weeks time we were always happy to be together again. I thought that was probably the way it would always be, and wondered what on earth we would do when it came time to retire! But as retirement approaches, I find that more often than not, I don't want to see him head back out. I'm actually looking forward to staying home and hanging out together full time! Wow! Life is nothing if not full of surprises!