Eric

Well the timing worked out perfectly! Now that I've finished introducing the kids to y'all, I will introduce my loving husband, on our 13th wedding anniversary! Yep, that's right, on this day 13 years ago, I, at the age of 19, stood up in front of God and everyone and pledged my life to Eric, at the age of 18. This is how the story goes...(get comfortable)

My dad was in the Air Force and the summer before my junior year in high school, we moved to San Antonio. We had lived there before, back when I was ages 3-6. We initially started going to the same church we had attended back then but the fit just wasn't right. So finally, we visited Northside which is where Eric and his family went and had attended his whole life (practically).
Eric was a year behind me in school and we were friends. He went to a rival high school and sang in choir (like I did) and our choir teachers were friends so we frequently sang the same stuff at concerts (which we hated) Anyway, my parents and Eric's parents quickly became good friends as well and they started attending our LIFE group (which had several other teens in it). We remained good friends all through that year. That next summer (this is 1993, before my Sr. year) we began spending a lot of time with each other. We each had significant others at the time but mine had moved away. Towards the end of the summer Eric's folks were going out of town for several days for their anniversary (which is Aug 2. they just celebrated their 40th on Sat. Congratulations Jerry and Joyce!) and asked my parents if Eric could stay with us while they were away. They came back right before our church's annual Family Retreat that both of our families attended. So, we spent a LOT of time together---like every minute, it seemed---over those 10 days or so. While we were at the family retreat we kinda came to the conclusion that we were going to need to part ways with the people we were dating since we were very much focused on each other. All these years later, just writing these words seems a bit silly and juvenile. And maybe it sounds that way, we were after all, only 16 and 17. But as soon as we had broken up with the others and started officially dating, there has been no other thought of anyone else for either of us. I don't know if you are all rolling your eyes or not but it's true. I don't know how this kind of special love came to us at such a young age, but I am thankful it did.

Back to the story...I had always planned to go to Harding for college. Eric had, too, that's where is older sister already was, but since I was graduating a year ahead of him, I began to have some serious doubts about leaving. I had been accepted early in the fall and by spring, we were very serious about each other. So serious, that I couldn't even think about not seeing him everyday. I remember vividly, the conversation I had in the kitchen with my mother. I was helping her with supper and we were talking it all out. I told her I knew that everyone said that if it was true love it would be fine to wait a year and all that. But she said (it might help to mention at this point that my own parents were married at 18; they'll celebrate 35 years in Nov. and Eric's folks were 19 and 20) that she heard the same arguments when she and dad were graduating. He was planning to go to one school and she was 'supposed' to go to another. She wanted to go with dad. What she told me, what stuck, was,"When you really love someone, why would you want to be parted from them if you could help it?" So, I stayed home and went to school in town while Eric finished high school. That Feb. of his Sr. year, he proposed to me, I said yes, he graduated in May, we married in August and we were off to Arkansas (where Harding is) a couple of weeks later. Now, some of you may be asking yourselves,"how did they live?" Well, the answer is student loans! Eric worked part time at a bookstore, I didn't work at all that first 6 months which was a great way to start off. We had a little apartment that cost $315 a month but we thought it was wonderful. After that first semester, we decided to go back to SA to go to school there (where it didn't cost so much to go school) I started working part time at a day care center, I think Eric worked full time then, and that was that. We had been married 3 years, working part time and going to school part time when we decided to get into the air force. We knew then that we wanted me to be able to stay at home when we had kids, but at the rate we were going, we'd be 50 before we had finished school and Eric had a job that paid enough for me to stay home, so we saw the military as a good means to an end: free college and free babies. Eric went to basic training august of 1998; the only word I can use to describe how I felt is bereft. I had never been without him and I was so desolate. I was staying with my folks for those 6 weeks but I was pretty mopey. After basic we moved to Monterey CA for him to learn Hebrew (he was a Hebrew linguist) we were there for a year and then we moved to San Angelo, TX for 6 months while he learned the top secret stuff for his job. We left there in May of 2000 and I was newly pregnant with Isaac. We moved to Augusta, GA and were there for almost 4 years. While there, we had our 2 sons, bought our first house, and began to feel like grown-ups! After Ethan was born and Eric's 6 years were up we moved back to San Antonio---home---as we had always planned. It was very difficult for Eric to find a job. I talked about that some in Jaylie's post. The job he did get, finally, that allowed us to buy our 2nd house and feel settled, was a government contract job. We knew it would be going up for rebid at the end of the following Jan. but weren't bothered by that since most of the time, the same people get rehired with a different company if the bid is changed. Well, here I was, newly settled in a house that I really liked with my new baby and Eric comes home and says he thinks he may need to start looking for a new job...And I guess I'll stop there and tell you how we came to MS another time.
Eric is God's gift to me. He is my match in every way. Having 'grown up' with him it is neat to see the man he has become. It is true that marrying so young, I had no idea who or what he would turn out to be. I guess that's not entirely right, I've known who he is since I met him. But it didn't matter to me that i didn't know what he'd be, I just wanted to be with him and I knew that whatever he picked would be good and that he'd be great at it. Eric is good at everything he does. He is an amazing dad, he's the best husband. He thinks of me, and treasures me and I am secure knowing that he never, never would do anything to cause me harm or pain. He has a great love for me and it is so reassuring to know that he has loved me, fiercely, when he didn't know who or what I'd turn into. He actually thinks I'm better now than I was then, despite the weight difference or gray hair or stretch marks (tons of them). We've had a great 13 years and are eagerly awaiting the next 13 and the next and the next.
I'll gush more about him in the future. I just can't help it.
I just glanced over at his blog about me...it's not nearly as long! Go figure.
I love you Eric. You're the best.