You Had Me From Hello

            I’ll never forget the first night we met. It was the first weekend in May 2000. The annual Crawfish Festival was going on and my mother and I had just moved to Spring, Tx. from Friendswood, Tx.  I was 19 and not really sure where I was going in life. My parents were in the middle of a nasty divorce, and I had decided to end a horrible relationship with my high school boyfriend.  My friend Tiffany’s boyfriend at the time, Dustin, had been trying to set me up with you for weeks. I kept telling him that I had sworn off men for a while after dealing with a jerk and then watching my parents horrible divorce. I was at Tiffany’s when Dustin showed up that Saturday night. Tiffany was sick and I was keeping her company. Dustin asked me if I wanted to ride with him to go get food and a movie for Tiffany and I thought, “Sure she’s asleep anyway.” When I walked outside, I noticed Dustin did not have his truck. I asked him,” Whose truck is this?” He said, “Oh it belongs to Joe. I borrowed it for tonight. We have to go pick him up from work.”(He was winking at me as he said all this.) “Dustin, I told you, I am not interested,” I shouted at him. Dustin started laughing at me as we drove off. Twenty minutes later we pull up to the Best Buy parking lot in the Woodlands. You were standing there, angry. Dustin stopped the truck and you shouted at him, “You were supposed to be here 20 min ago!” Dustin just shrugged and laughed. The moment you sat in the driver’s seat I thought,” Oh my….he smells so good….” Then you extended your hand and said,” Hi, I’m Joe. You must be Courtney, nice to meet you.” When I grabbed your hand, instantly I felt a spark run through me. I couldn’t take my eyes off that smile and those blue eyes. When we got back to Tiffany’s, you and I sat outside and talked for hours. We had this immediate connection, like magnets. A week later you took me on our first date. We went to see the movie “Frequency” with Dennis Quaid. That same night you also gave me our first kiss. I had been kissed before, but that kiss from you felt like my real first kiss.

          

 From that moment on-we were inseparable. I struggled a bit during those first few months because I did not understand what I was feeling for you. We were both 19, and our feelings were so strong. I honestly did not think it was possible to find my soul mate at such a young age. But I did, and the Christmas of 2000, seven months after we had been dating, you proposed to me with a silver ring from a gumball machine. You said it was all you could afford at the moment, but you promised to get me a better ring before the wedding. When you proposed to me, you said,” The night I met you, I felt like my life really began. I feel so alive when I’m with you.  I cannot imagine a day without you in it. How would you like to spend the rest of your life with me?” I cried….frozen…..could not believe this was actually happening to me. I swore that I was not going to get married. Watching my parents’ divorce after 21 years of marriage scared me into not believing in marriage anymore. After about a minute of your proposal, I looked at you and said,” Yes! I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You are the only person for me.” There was one catch to our engagement and planning a wedding though. You were leaving for Marine Corp boot camp, three weeks after you proposed. The day you left for boot camp was the hardest day I had experienced in my life thus far. We had not been apart AT ALL for 8 months, and now we were going to be apart for 3 months with only letters to communicate! No phone calls, emails, texting, only letters-old school style! I wrote you every day, and you wrote me every day. I started planning for a big September wedding and told you all the details in the letters. Finally, 3 very long months later, April came and it was time for your boot camp graduation. I flew with your family to San Diego. The first time I saw you, my heart just melt. That first hug and kiss I got from you was so magical. You pulled me off to the side and said, “I did not think you would wait for me.” I looked at you, astonished, and said,” But why would you ever feel that way? I wrote you every day. You are my world Joe!” You looked at me with tears in your eyes, and hugged me again. After boot camp graduation, you and I decided we wanted to just elope and then we would have a big reception in September. We couldn't stand to be apart anymore. When we told our parents, they were not happy and wanted us to be married in a church. So your wonderful mom and mine managed to plan a church wedding in a week while you were on boot leave. On April 28, 2001-we said I do. It was the perfect wedding, perfect sunny spring day, and we were both so amazingly happy. At our reception, we danced to “You Had me From Hello” by Kenny Chesney. We danced to it on our 4^th date, and it became our song.

 Joe from the moment you took my hand and introduced yourself to me twelve years ago, I fell in love with you. You have given me a life that I never could of imagined. God led us together and gave us three beautiful children. I love our crazy, chaotic, messy, yet so wonderful life. Thank you for being an amazing husband and best friend.  Happy 11 years baby! You truly had me from hello…