For those of you that do not know the story…my wife, Shannon, was my first girlfriend. It was the summer between 8th and 9th grade, also known as “The Summer Of Love” ha ha. Everything was perfect that summer. Flowers smelled better, bluebirds sang louder, church camp was more fun…you get the picture. But, unfortunately, Shannon is two years younger than me, so when the summer ended and I started high school, it was not cool to date someone in middle school…so I quit her.
Remember the days when you could just “quit” someone? No drawn out discussions, no begging or pleading, just “quitting.” And it never came from the actual person. No, you would either get a note, or a friend would let you know that you had been “quit.” Anyway, when Shannon made it to high school, we got back together…for a whole year! It was the perfect year. Flowers smelled even better, bluebirds sang much louder than in the summertime and every Sunday I was guaranteed to have someone to sit by in church. Then, unfortunately, I started my senior year and thought I needed to be “unattached,” so I quit her again.
Actually by this time it was called breaking up. Man I was a jerk! The funny thing is that no matter who I dated, I would always use Shannon as the standard, and nobody ever compared to her. After high school, we went our separate ways, but remained really close friends. I guess we got tired of wishing we were together and decided to seal the deal once and for all.
Shannon graduated college in May of 1997 and we got married that November. We celebrated 10 years this past November. How awesome is that? With Shannon, and my three amazing kids, Sam, Gracie and Charlie, can life get any better? I submit to you it cannot. Happy Valentines day.
-Bart
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