This week has been filled with emotions from both ends of the spectrum for me.
Today marks the second anniversary of the birth and death of our second son, our little boy Ben, who was born when I was 23 weeks pregnant. In the weeks leading up to today I felt a little anxious about this day because I never know how I'll feel. But then today arrived and really it hasn't been bad at all. Aside from feeling incredibly sad for having lost him, on this day I mostly feel blessed for having had him in our lives for 23 whole weeks and in our hearts forever after. Our family is also so sweet and never forget to call us or send a post card, which we appreciate immensely.

photo courtesy of Ellebellecreative

Love him!

our August 2008 wedding

Husband R. and I have been married two-and-a-half years now, and we've been together for eight. I sometimes find this hard to believe; our courtship feels like it was only yesterday. There's about a thousand ways you can meet your future husband and fall in love. This is our story.

It was the summer of 2002 and I was celebrating being single again (that's what you do in college, you celebrate). I had just turned 22 and had that joyful feeling of the world being at my feet. One morning, I awoke from a dream about my high school years. It was a happy dream, but left me puzzled all the same. In it I saw future husband R. walking down the hall of our school. --Here I need to provide you with some background information. Husband R. and I attended the same high school. He is five years older than me and so we had very little to do with each other. I thought he was wildly attractive and had a crush. In all those years, we only had one conversation, which lasted exactly one minute. It is etched in my mind. Back to my dream now.-- So, I was thoroughly confused when I woke up. It had been at least six years since I'd seen him and hadn't really thought about him after high school anymore. The dream stayed with me all day, as did a feeling of excitement about having seen him (well, in the dream at least). Finally, I decided that Google was my friend and looked him up (sounds stalkerish, no?). My heart beating fast as I found his name, photo, and e-mail address on a student association website. He was in college, too (not mine), studying civil engineering.

As these things go, I phoned a girlfriend to relate the story. "Why don't you e-mail him?" she said. I didn't dare. Then, one day later, I was feeling particularly brave, and without thinking twice, wrote the e-mail and hit send. Immediately I regretted this and frantically searched for a way to unsend it. Within 24 hours, he replied. The e-mail was empty. I replied once again and so did he. We re-introduced ourselves and told our stories of the past six years. E-mailing then turned to talking on the phone, which led to our first dinner date. That first meeting was surreal. Sparks flying everywhere as we shook hands. We hit it off. Six months after that, we became an item, and four years later, with the birth of our son Abe, became a family.

So, you could say we met online, or you could say I married my high school crush. I prefer the latter. What's your story?