10 wonderful years!

10 years ago I had just started my first year at Malone College. I was young and enjoying all the freedoms that came with living on a college campus, away from home for the first time.

 I remember sitting in a required communications speaking class, bored as can be, and scoping out all the  guys that surrounded me. One caught my eye. A tall, handsome, brown eyed, dark hair, boy....barely a man, with the most sexy smile. He made my heart flutter, and gave me reason to wake up for that dreadful 8 am class, three days a week. Seeing him across the room, and watching him give his weekly "presentations"...made me giddy, even though we had never spoken a word at that point. I knew for sure that he was the guy I wanted to marry, the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I know this sounds corny, and almost unbelievable, but couldn't be more true.

Week after week I would nonchalantly glance in his direction. I was shy, and had almost no experience with boys and dating. This went on through mid-October. One night I had plans with a friend of mine to hang out, and he had asked if his other friend could tag along with us. To my very pleasant surprise, this crush of mine was that friend. I was  formally introduced to Ross and it was love at first sight, and if not love, it was like-a-lot at first sight! Through this mutual friend of ours, we began spending more and more time together. I was not quite sure how Ross felt about me, but took a chance one night in the freshman guys dorm lobby and asked him out to see a movie. He said yes, and we spent almost every night hanging out and talking on the phone for the following weeks. This boy made my heart thump a million beats a minute and I couldn't get him off my mind...just ask my mom, I couldn't stop talking about him. I am sure all my friends and family were pretty sick of hearing about this Ross guy and even more sick of my girlie giggles and squeals at the mention of his name. I was in love. Head over heels in love.

 I had never told Ross about me having CF, we weren't even officially dating yet, and were definitely not exclusive. Sometime at the beginning of November I started getting sick, and was put into the hospital. At this point I had no other option than to let him get to know me, the real me, all about me. CF was not an issue for him and to make a long story short, he loved me for me. On November 15, 2000 he asked me if I would officially be his girlfriend. We have been together ever since. He purposed to me on October 1, 2002, and we were married on June 26, 2004. On December 9, 2005 we welcomed our first child, Caleb Ross into the world and 2 years later on June 12, 2008, our daughter, Adalyn Judith was born. We have built a wonderful life filled with love and joy together.

Ross still makes me giddy, and the very thought of him still makes my heart thump a million beats a minute. I look forward to him coming home every night from work, and I count the days until our next "date night". He is my best friend, the love of my life, and soul mate. I am never happier than when I am spending time with him and the most precious children that we brought into this world together. I appreciate everything about Ross. He is not perfect, but he is imperfectly perfect for me, and because of him I do believe in happily ever afters. Ross is my prince charming. I am more and more in love with him every day and cannot wait to spend the next 10 years of my life with him.

10 absolutely wonderful years together. 10 beautiful years. Gosh, I sure do love this man. I sometimes wonder what I have ever done to be so blessed.