Love Story

Tom moved here from OK and I moved here from NH when we were both 13. We lived in separate towns for about a year. And then my mom and I moved to the town he lived in–the same mobile home park in fact! We shared a bus stop even. I remember the first day of school, I waited at the stop away from him & everyone else. I was extremely shy. I do remember thinking he was cute — kind of a stinker though! )

We went to the same junior high and then the same high school. Eventually, we became the best of friends. Just friends.

I had a HUGE crush on him though. Major crush. I was never going to say a word to him about it. EVER. What if he didn’t feel the same way? I didn’t want to risk our awesome friendship. Plus, I was still shy and overly self-conscious. I would walk past his house very slowly on the way to the bus stop, just hoping he would come out.

By our senior year my crush was pretty bad. I actually would talk to my counselor about him. All my friends and my mom knew I “liked him.” They told me he felt the same way. I didn’t believe them, but I hoped.

After graduation, he went into the Marine Corps. It was horrible to have him gone. Before he left, he treated me to an Elton John concert, which he now counts as our first date.

While he was gone, I didn’t get many letters from him, but I sent him tons of mail. Looking back I can see ALL of my love in those letters, only slightly disguised. When he came back from Boot Camp that December I got a call from him. He hates this part of our story. He told me that he was engaged. I was crushed. Almost literally.

My emotions were really strong at this point and I thought he “liked me” too.

So, out of despair I told him of my feelings; why I was upset & that I had liked him for a long time. He said that he had felt the same way about me. But, yada yada yada. Life happens.

Within a week, he called me again. This time he told me his fiance had broken up with him because she didn’t want to be engaged anymore.

Between the engagement and breakup, I was a wreck emotionally. I sought counsel from my friends, who happened to be a Christian couple. I ended up turning my life over to Jesus and He has changed my life forever.

After Tom left to go to the East Coast, I missed him so much. We talked a lot after he left. His phone bill was probably SUPER high. Eventually we decided to date, although it was over the phone & through letters mostly.

We did this for 8 months before I saw him again. So, we had developed very strong feelings for one another before we ever kissed.

When I saw him again I was so excited and nervous I was sick to my stomach! He gave me a promise ring August of 1995, and we continued our long-distance relationship. Each time we saw each other it became harder to part again. In July of 1996 he proposed to me, and we started planning an August 1997 wedding.

Well, we aren’t too patient. We decided “Why wait?” and got married December 21, 1996 on his vacation leave.

I moved to California with him and we lived on base until he got out of the Marine Corps in 1998.

We moved back to AZ shortly after and then in 2012 we moved to Wyoming.