Wedding Anniversary

23 September, 13

Today is my wedding anniversary. Susan and I have been married 18 years, if my math is correct. We are married in no small part due to Spain. I met Susan at the end of my Junior year and her Freshman year at Clemson, when my girlfriend at the time introduced us. Several people gathered everyday in Schilletter Dining Hall to hang out and eat. We would have 20 or 30 people gathered around a few tables, so it was quite a cabal. Susan was a little more reserved, and I was a little more outgoing, so we naturally fit together. Over the course of the following Summer, both of us got dumped, and we kind of fell in together at the beginning of my Senior and her Sophomore year.

When Susan finally graduated in 1994, she had a choice to make. Her girlfriend, Alicia, was in Spain for a year between college and law school. She invited Susan to join her for a few months. Susan decided to look for a job close to me, and if she received no offers, she would go to Spain. Sort of a Gideon's fleece kind of thing. Well nothing showed up, so she packed her bags and left the continent.

I was working at Burlington Industries in Raeford, NC. Okay, I was being stretched on the rack and having my fingernails pulled out by evil little minions at Burlington Industries in Raeford, NC. I hated my job. My woman was in Spain. My life sucked.

I had considered asking Susan to marry me about a year before this. I even walked into a jewelry store to get a ring and found one that I liked. I held it in my hand, and then I told the clerk I needed to go think about it for a minute. I never went back in. I was scared to death. I was terrified that she would say, "No!" What did I have of any consequence to offer somebody like her? I was in a dead end job. She came from a very nice family, who would certainly have high expectations for a spouse. And now she's off in Spain, probably meeting some suave Spanish guy that speaks 5 languages and has travelled the world, like Antonio Lomba, Alicia's Spanish boyfriend.

Susan would call me from Spain at 11AM her time, which was 5AM my time. She was homesick, and she missed me, but I encouraged her to stay and have fun. That was hard. After a few months, Christmas was around the corner, and some of Susan's family friends, who were from England, invited Susan to spend Christmas with them in London. Susan invited me to spend a few days in London with her, which is like asking Br'er Rabbit to jump in the briar patch.

We had a great time. I got home on Sunday. I bought the ring on Monday. A few months later, I proposed to her just outside Manning Hall at Clemson, where I first told her that I loved her. She said yes. Seven months later we were married.

Without Spain, we would have gotten married. I am convinced of that, but I do believe it played an important role for both of us. The separation and reunion forged a deeper bond for us. It ignited a more intense passion for each other that still burns brightly today. We have certainly shared some troubling times and have descended into marital valleys, like everyone does. We have soared high above the mountaintops as well. Wherever we have gone in our marriage, though, it has been together.

Right now, we are in Spain. Together. And that is the best anniversary present I could ever imagine.

I love you, Susan.