Hey, I have to sing to myself. Kurt's not home to celebrate with me.
See, most people think I'm weird because I'd rather have Kurt out for Christmas than for our anniversary. I have friends here I can spend Christmas with, or even take Grace to Tucson! We won't be alone on Christmas.
But who do you spend your wedding anniversary with besides your spouse?!
That's what I'm saying.
I think he's only going to be home for the odd-numbered annivesaries; he missed the second anniversary too!
Damn the Navy. ;o)
So it's four years ago that I married Kurt. What a sweetie. I can't believe I talked him into marriage!! See, he'd seen all the bad things that come with military marriages (the cheating on both sides, the divorces, the wrecking of the joint checking account...), and he'd determined he was NEVER getting married.
That is, until he met ME!
But then the little bugger waited for MONTHS to propose to me! Can you imagine?! We'd been dating for over a year when he told his parents he wanted to marry me, and his mother graciously sent her engagement ring for him to use. He had it resized (since I have fat hams for fingers), and then sat on the damn thing for over FOUR MONTHS.
What a bugger.
On Labor Day (September 3rd), 2001, we were at the pool hanging out with our neighbors. It was a hot day, and the cool water felt gooooood. Then Kurt tells me he's going back to the apartment to wash the cars, and our neighbor John says he'd help, which left me alone with his wife Rose. That was odd in itself; John had never offered to help Kurt with chores before. But I guess John was giving Kurt some last-minute pointers on how to propose to me.
Then Kurt told me we were going out to dinner that night and to look nice because we were going somewhere fancy. My suspicions from the pool were confirmed; he was going to propose!!!!! It was reinforced when I saw the bulge of the ring box in his pocket. Hee hee!!!
So he took me to the Renaissance Hotel in Portsmouth, right on the Elizabeth River, to their fancy seafood restaurant. The food was to die for!!! After dinner, he suggested a walk along the river, at which point he stopped me at a bench and actually got down on one knee!!! I was so excited. I was crying and sobbing and of course saying "YES!!!" He was worried I wouldn't like the ring, though, since I'd already picked out a few engagement rings on my own. But I loved the fact that it was my mother-in-law's ring, and that she was so excited to have me as a member of the family that she allowed me to have such a sentimental piece of jewelry.
September 11th happened just over a week later, and at that point we put the wedding plans into high-speed. We hadn't set a wedding date by then; we just knew we wanted to get married by the end of the year. We planned a lovely wedding in the ensuing 5 weeks and were married in a lovely ceremony at the Portsmouth City Park on October 12, 2001.
Happy anniversary, baby. I hope we have many, many more together. I love you more than words can express, and I can't WAIT till you're home again!!
