Ten years?! Really? WOW!

It started with a kiss and wound up like this....and the rest is in the making!

Ten years ago I met a wonderful man, who later became my husband! It's so hard to believe it's been 10 years. Yes, I know that's cliche, but it's so true! So, this is the story of how we met, and how it took a really funny turn.



Ryan sent me an IM on AOL on August 20th, 1998. I was in the process of signing off AOL, and had already gotten the "sign off" confirmation when all of a sudden an IM pops up, because he was in the process of sending it as I was signing off. Normally, I'd get those idiots IMing me saying, "Hey, got a pic?" or "18 year old male here, what's your stats?" But for some reason this one seemed sincere. It said, "Hey, wanna chat?" It was from a person who identified himself at CUSaxMan. Something was telling me to sign on again and talk to this person, so I did. I gave him my number, and he called me that night. We talked for 4 hours, and decided to meet the next day. All I knew was that his name was Ryan, he was 21, and was finishing his senior year at Clemson, and he was a saxophonist. So somewhere around 6 that next night, 8/21/98, this man I didn't know pulled into the driveway. He came in, and we talked for a bit while my mom sat on the couch with her skeptical face! Ha!



Then we went to Pizza Hut for supper. We had a mushroom and green peppers pizza with extra cheese : ) Now here's where the funny part comes into play. Ryan assumed that Pizza Hut took a card, so when he went up to pay, he gave him his card. Well, Pizza Hut didn't take a card back then..only cash! I saw the sweat forming on his forehead..haha! He turned to me and asked if I had 20 dollars. Normally I wouldn't have carried cash with me, but it was a good thing I did that night! So, needless to say, I paid for our first meal. That's something that I'll never let him out-live. I still nag him from time to time about it : ) Everytime I ask him where my 20 dollars is that he owes me, he laughs and says, "I think you've been more than paid back." Haha!



So after supper, and after I paid (((Hint hint, honey!!))), we went to Blockbuster and rented "The Ghost In The Darkness". It wasn't a movie that I would have rented myself, but it was alright. The best part was sitting next to this man and cuddling with him. Yes, we cuddled. I barely even knew him, but something about it just felt right. I didn't feel the least bit uncomfortable, despite what friends and family warned me about "Internet Lovers".



He took me back home that night and was a perfect gentleman! He leaned into me and before he kissed me he said, "May I?" So, he kissed me! LOL! I'm normally not much of a kiss and tell kinda girl, but I'm not ashamed..hehe!



We really hit it off and never broke up, well, not for more than 30 minutes anyway! We were engaged 14 1/2 months later, and married almost 8 months after that. We've had some great times, and some really bad times together, but that's what makes us stronger. So, on our 10 year meeting anniversary, I want to tell you, Ryan, that I do love you more than life itself and thank you so much for 10 short years!