Yesterday We Celebrated Our Would Be 16th Anniversary

My husband and I had a whirlwind romance, which resulted in us getting married four months after we met.  No, I wasn't pregnant.  Everything was so magical and amazing that we just went for it.  We hadn't even gone to the movies before we got married.  I still can't believe it happened the way it did.  We got engaged after our first official date, which was a concert to see the Stylistics, The Delfonics, and a few other folks. At the time I was looking forward to our 10th and 15th year anniversary.  We decided that year fifteen I would get another wedding band to match the one I had.  Sadly we only stayed married 4 years.  When what I believed was our would-be 10th anniversary (turns out it was our 11th), I called my ex-husband out of the blue and told him we needed to celebrate.  He didn't really want to, but we did.  We went out to dinner and I insisted on paying for my own dinner.  I guess I should have paid for both since it was my idea.  He was noticeably nervous the whole time.  I remember saying, "What's wrong.  It's not like we haven't eaten together before."  After dinner, I said thanks and I will see you in five years to celebrate again.  Well that five years was June 2011.  We tried to celebrate it then, but life got in the way.  We finally celebrated our would-be 16th year anniversary yesterday.  He cooked me a really nice dinner complete with freshly brewed Jasmine tea and wine.  He was much more relaxed than he was five years ago.  We had a really nice time.  I sure hope we are both here to celebrate our would-be 21st anniversary.

June 26, 1995. I was 26 yrs old.  We had an outdoor wedding at the park.  We rented two pavilions. One for the ceremony and one for the reception.  It was the kids idea and it was fine with me.

I made the invitations.

My brother gave me away.  My husband sang me down the aisle to "A Whole New World".  This was the first time I had my hair cut that short.  It's hard to see here, but it was an awesome cut!  The back was layered for days.

My twelve year old stepdaughter, Alicia, played the flute for our musical selection. My 16yr old stepdaughter, Angelica, was the videographer.  It really was a family affair.  All of the kids played a part.  

Lord knows I didn't remember what my cake looked like until I took out the pictures today.

We were sooo happy that day.

Hard to see my ring, but it is a beautiful champagne diamond ring and my wedding band had diamonds all the way across.

I had a serious tan that day.  So did my ex, but he needed one.  The kids really made me feel loved and wanted from day one.  This is the daughter who recently called to tell me she was getting married in this same park as a tribute to us.  She also asked for my help because she didn't know anything about weddings.

My 8yr old stepdaughter Carmen holding my dog Teddy.  He doesn't have on his doggie tuxedo like I thought.  I remember now that I got the doggie tux shortly after I got married.  That is my then 10 yr old stepson, lil' Russell.  He used to have a big curly fro, and every time I see Julian (from my videos) I think, he looks just like lil' Russell.  All three seem to be in a reflective mood.

My ex with hair.  My ex has a lot of qualities that  Rod has.  He's very outdoorsy, a great cook, and a wonderful father.

Shortly after our wedding, I won a Service Excellence Award at Kodak and the prize was a trip for two to Disney World.  Who was babysitting the 5 kids, 3 dogs, and a cat?  The kids' mom, who stayed in our home with them the week we were away.  She lived over an hour away and it was just easier.  I have to say babysitting because at this point she was only attempting to see the kids about once a year.  See there is hope for Melanie, Rod, and Danielle.

Disney really is the most magical place I have ever been to.  This horse and carriage was just sitting outside our hotel.

We don't know these little girls, but we asked them to get in so we could take their picture.  So if Rod and Danielle end up in a horse and carriage you will know where that idea came from.

Here are my five full-time stepchildren.  My oldest, Angelica was 16yrs old and my youngest was Cedric who was 6 yrs old.  They were a fun bunch.  This was me introducing the gang to my mom for the first time.  Imagine her surprise.  

I didn't get the ring on my would-be 16th year anniversary, BUT, I did return my ex's wedding band to him yesterday.  So there was a ring exchange.  He had no idea that I had it.  When I took it, 11 yrs ago my thought was always to pawn it.  I am very glad that I didn't.  Now if I could just find my rings.....