This is my first post to this blog. The plan is to post to this blog about once a week.
My story is becoming more and more common, and less and less told. I am 27 years old, married to an amazing woman and father to a beautiful daughter. I work steady and hard, my wife works hard and we pay our bills on time. Our daughter is healthy, we own a small older home that came with a suitable mortgage payment. Yes, I believe life is peaceful and easy for my family and I.
This is what I imagine the postman thinks of us as he forces bills and junk mail into our tiny little mailbox. You see I don't know the postman I've only ever said hi to him a few times. Likewise he does not know me or my wife. From the surface these few details easily tell any stranger that we are a happy family, and it's true we are happy. But what is the price of that happiness? This isn't the Cleaver house hold you know. It has taken a lot for us to get where we are.
I haven't discussed this blog with my wife so I am not at liberty to tell you of our struggles before we were married, but imagine if you will two rats approaching a giant meatball in the gutter from opposite angels. Neither is able to see the other all they know is the most glorious meal of the week has just rolled out in front of them. Well, that meatball was the weekend I met my wife. I wouldn't let her go until I was sure that I could contact her again.
That one fateful day May 6th 2006. Yes I remember the first time I ever saw her. I stopped in to visit some friends who live in a tiny country community without so much as a gas station to call their own. And there sitting in the floor of my friend's living room is a girl whom I paid very little attention at first glance, because it was late in the evening and she was wearing no makeup in frumpy PJs ready for bed at any moment. At the time I was a cocky young man fresh out of a failed marriage. Yes I was only 23 and divorced already. I took the attitude from my divorce that I didn't need anyone and that what ever I needed I could get on my own. This is an easy theory to prove, simply lower your expectations of what you need. Move in with your parents and get a flexible job that doesn't mind if you call in every week. I was a perfect example of what I pray my children never become. As I entered the house I went straight to the refrigerator and found ice cream, which I removed from the freezer and began to fix a bowl for myself when I heard. "Who do you think you are?" Now my attention was set directly on this beautiful girl whom I paid no attention when I barged in. That was the first time my wife ever corrected me, and I didn't even know her name.
I spent the whole weekend following her around, talking to her to all hours of the night as if we had been best friends for years. I learned that it was quite the coincidence that we met as I was nearly two hours from home when I stopped in for this visit, and she was visiting from out of state her self. Two weeks later I convinced her to come back and see me, I told her I loved her for the first time. After four months of dating like this seeing each other ever other weekend after an eight hour drive I pleaded with my brother to cosign on a ring, he did, and I asked her to marry me. May, 6 2007 we were married. This was the point that our happy little life began as a family. We were both in school at the time we were married, but I dropped out because she was closer to graduating that I was. I moved to Texas to be with her, we live close to her family. I took two jobs in our first year. Four months later we were pregnant.
My wife has taken a second job on top of her many responsibilities, check out her progress bellow and I'll try to get back to finish catching you up.
http://www.stelladot.com/sites/cassandra
