My husband and I met in an
incredible way. One of my older sisters introduced him to me. We used to see
each other in church and talk occasionally on the phone on a purely friendly
basis. We spent weeks like this. He was supposed to help me with information
regarding the school system here in the US. I lost his phone number and out of
pride, even though I would see him twice a week in the church, I couldn’t ask
him for the number again. We simply didn't communicate for weeks.
Then through my sister, we
reconnected again. We started chatting again.On occasions we talked on the phone about school and other things. As we began to get closer as friends, the dialogues
became longer and more substantial. We timidly started to talk about ourselves
and before we knew it, we couldn’t let go of the phone once a conversation
began. We kept on going on for hours. We started to have intimate feelings for
each other. But his feelings were stronger.
From the beginning of our mutual
friendship, most in my family did not like him. They thought he was a player
based on his past experiences and the name he had made for himself among the
girls of the town.
Shortly after, we started dating. I
called the closest family members, including my father, to tell them about my
new relationship with Bob. I remember it was a Sunday evening. When I broke
the news to them, it was like a volcano that erupted. My entire family was against
what they’d heard. Despite all the dull and alarming predictions, and all the
negativity around me, I stood by my decision.
After a short time dating, we were
ready to get really serious since we loved each other so much. When we decided
to get married, some people thought our marriage would never last. They were
predicting all sorts of negative stuff happening to us. Obviously some were
jealous about our relationship. But all of that made me love him more because
he was so different from what people were saying. I felt like if I let go,
those same people saying I was going nowhere with Bob would jump on him and
take him away. They opened my eyes and I opened my heart even more. Strangely
enough, they gave me more reasons to love him even more and more.
Finally we got married. We had
approximately four hundred guests at our wedding reception night. It was a
beautiful day on 07/03/2004. I remember when he saw me with my beautiful white
gown dress, our eyes met and we smiled. It was the most important and special day
in my life. Because we were defeating with every step toward each other in the
church all the bad predictions people had said. We had stayed strong, positive
and clung to each other despite the tornadoes around us.
For our first wedding anniversary, we
flew to the Bahamas for one week. It was a time of joy, of victory, of
celebration. It was also a time for prayer giving thanks to God and a time of
profound thinking about our short past and incredibly long future. We were
happy to have overcome all the obstacles. We did not let people decide on the
most important thing in our lives. Now we’ve been married for more than ten years.
Our marriage is stronger than ever. I’m mostly thankful to God because he gave
me a friend before anything, then a husband.
