January 1998, I was in high school, 16 years old.
At that time, I was working at a local supermarket as a bagger. One day I was bagging groceries for a customer named Mike that I noticed was a cutie. The first thing I loved was the smile he gave me after I asked him if he wanted help to his car. He seemed hesitant to say yes because I was much smaller than he was but then he laughed and said “Sure, why not?” When he opened his trunk I literally through his groceries in as quick as I could and ran off as he was trying to talk to me – I was so embarrassed. A couple weeks later he came back in and handed me a piece of paper with his phone number.
I called him that evening and I thought he was acting immature on the phone because he and his friends were just laughing and joking around. I decided that would be the last time I called him. About a month went by and I never heard from him. But then, he came back to the supermarket and told me he accidentally deleted my number and if he could have it again. I gave it to him.
We were young and in love. In 2000, I became pregnant. Unplanned. I was only 19. Being a young couple with a baby we were struggling with all the changes and ended up splitting. I felt in my heart that I needed to leave and that if we were truly meant for each other that we would come back together. We were split up for some months. During this time, we both knew that we couldn’t be without each other. He came to me one day – he wanted us to be a family again. We started dating again and moved back in together.
After four years, Mike came into the supermarket where we met. This time with our daughter. She was holding a small box, opened it and said “Mommy, will you marry daddy?” I was so nervous that I just kept on working and a customer said “Well, what are you gonna say?” I said “Yes! Yes, I will.” We got married in May 2005 and had two more children in afterwards.
I feel so blessed to be married to my first love and that we have managed to stay together through many difficult times. Marriage is not a simple easy thing and the “for better or for worst” really become reality as years go by. Love becomes an action and not just a feeling. My husband is my best friend. He knows me in ways no one else could. It’s definitely not been easy but I couldn’t see myself without him. I hope we can keep making it through the hard times and enjoy the good ones.
