Older woman ,younger man.Happy Anniversary!

Well it's been 13 years Oct 5th that Craig and I got married. The above pic is the 2 of us at his brother Jim's wedding a couple years ago. Most people just seeing us don't know there is a 16 year age difference between my husband and I. Yes he is the younger one,lol. I attribute it to his early baldness and greying and to my good genes, haha!

Whenever you go into a relationship with this type of age gap there is bound to be a certain amount of apprehension. You have to realize that 13 years ago my husband was in his late 20's and I was in my early 40's. That's a generation apart. He had never been married before,I not only had been but I also came with a 14 year old teenager! Talk about a possible train wreck.

First there was the many talks about ,are you SURE you never want children?? Me to him of course. How do you know that won't change for you in a few years? I was relentless about asking him that. His reassurance that he never did want them ,but would be happy helping me with my daughter didn't really ease my worries on this subject.

Next was the discussion about our differences. He likes 80's music,I grew up with the Beatles but love all music. He liked gaming (indoor sports) I like outdoor stuff and working out. He is a home body ,I like to travel and do stuff.

And his family and his friends and my family and my friends...would they accept me? him with me? would they accept him/us? I am happy to say for the most part the friends and family on both sides have accepted this relationship. Some of his friends are in the midst of raising their families,something we are now done with.But I still love seeing them have families and being around the little ones. I love "his "friends as they have become mine. I like getting to know their new additions to their families and hope they all know that we don't mind being around their kids just because we don't have any young ones.

After all our talking and all my brow beating him about how I will be reaching retirement way before him (kind of a bad joke now that it looks like no one will be able to retire) it all fell back to the basic ingredients of any relationship. Love,respect and adaptability. Respecting his passions and him respecting mine.

So here we are at year 13 and no regrets for either of us so far. It hasn't always been easy,we've had our trials and tribulations. But none of it had to do with age difference. It was mainly life and how it can slam you with stuff and how we choose to deal with it. I ask my self every year about now,"would I say those vows to him again today? Each year has been a resounding"YES!" How wonderful.

"The One"

OK,I got this idea from Rachel L. and thought it was great . So heres mine! How did I know he was the one? I didn't at first. It was a gradual appreciation of the kind of person he is that just keep growing until one day I realized that,simply put, I loved him. It was not easy to admit my feelings for him right away,even to myself. The main issue being the age differance,he is 16 years younger than me. Plus I had 2 marriages behind me and a daughter just hitting her teenage years. I came with baggage,so to speak . If you made up a list the cons outweighed the pros into getting into this relationship. But the heart knew this one was diferent

What was so special?Well lets look at the outside first, I love his laughter. He has this big booming laugh that makes you look when he comes out with it. And then you smile along with him and even if you don't think what he is laughing at is funny ,you kinda laugh at his laugh anyway.He has these soft brown eyes,that just lookwell, kind. He has this great deep voice. And really nice smile.

The inside,He has strong integrity. He sticks to his beliefs. He has alot of long time friends that love him. I think that says alot about a man. He is loyal and he makes me feel loved. He respects women and he respects me. He loves his family and he opened his heart to my daughter and even though I dont think he expected it ,he loves her like if she were his own. He has been understanding about my having to help caregive for my ex husband becouse he knows it helps his step daughter. Who couldn't love a man like that?

He's not perfect. He takes forever to get ready to go somewhere. He gets moody often and he can have a temper when pushed . And god help the person that pushes him. He is very neat though and I never have to pick up after him. He is not too great at jumping in with the housework but will if I push it. He cooks for himself most nights. So all in all can't complain there...

I feel content when I'm with him and can't wait to see him after a long work day. It's been 12 years married and many more than that knowing him and being with him hasn't gotten old yet. We tell each other we love each other every day . We might argue once in awile but rarely fight.

So I guess he's the "one" becouse I can't imagine my life without him and becouse the best time in my whole day is when we snuggle in bed and watch TV together before falling asleep. It doesn't get any better than that.

Sung a Mio,Blood of mine

The above saying is Italian and I will be honest in saying that I am not sure on the spelling. My Auntie Anna ,who was like a grandmother to me when I was growing up used to call me that all the time. I asked her one day ,what does it mean? She told me its an endearment for Blood of Mine. Someone who is close to you by blood but also by heart. She would hug me too her bossom and say "ahh my Sung a Mio" and I would feel the love pouring off her. She gave me tons of advice when I was growing up.Some great advice and some pretty funny stuff. She could train animals; even cats. She would have cats stay until she would say move ,all with hand movements. And get them to beg on their hind legs. Animals and her just understood each other. Like a private language. She could bake without ever looking at a recipe. Her cookies are legendary. Her smile would light up a room and her personality made strangers she met feel like they knew her for years after only a few minutes.She was one of the most essential people in my life and I hold her close in my heart always. I will have to find a picture of her to post....
Anyway this all leads up to the above picture of me and my Sung a Mio,Rachel. She is my blood and my heart.