love

With Valentines Day happening tomorrow I wanted to share my love story about my husband and I.  I always love to hear about how other couples have met and the ups and downs of their realtionships.  No two couples are alike and their story is unique.  This is ours. The shortened version.

I met Mike when I was 22 at a party at his parents house.
I didn't want to go.
His sister made me.  I thank God for that every day.
We met.  Kissed. Fell in love.  Not kidding.  It was seriously love at first sight. 
One and a half years of young love.  Then one day out of the blue he wanted to break up.  Just like that it was over.  I was crushed.
4 days later I found out I was pregnant.  I was shocked and crushed and scared.
We got back together.  On December 30th 2003, he asked me to marry him.  I said yes.
On January 14th, 2004 we found out we were having twins. Unbelievable.
We moved into the tiniest apartment ever.  We loved it.
In May we bought our condo.
On June 6th, our beautiful twin girls were born.
On April 16th, 2005 we were married.  By the ocean.  Watching dolphins jump through the surf.  Still my most favorite day ever.
On October 12th, 2006 we welcomed our son.
Enter the hardest 2 years of marriage ever.  Talk of divorce.  Counseling. Lots of fighting. Lots of forgiving.  Soul searching and agreement.  We made it through.  Just barely.
August 2010 we found out we were pregnant with Lucy.  After 1 year of trying.  We were so excited.
October 2010 my mom finds out she has cancer.  Mike stood by my side and held me up the entire time.  I couldn't have made it through with out him.
December 31st, 2010 my mom lost her battle.  My heart is broken.  Mike mends it back together.
January 14th, 2011 Lucy is born.  26 weeks early.  I almost die.  So does she.
3 months of Lucy in the NICU was hard on our marriage.  We lived at his parents and went back and forth from their home to the hospital.  Lots of long talks took place in their driveway.  Scary talks.  Relationship changing conversations.  Mental breakdowns and emotional exhaustion took hold of our marriage.  It was hard.  It was the darkest time in my life. Then Lucy almost died. And we took eachothers hands and prayed.  We let go of the pettiness and held onto the hope that our daughter would make it.  And she did.
April 11th, 2011 Lucy came home.  Halleluiah!!
One year of joy and grieving for my mom.  Mike showed me a side of him I had never seen.  I fell in love with him all over again.  I couldn't believe the love I felt.
April 21, 2012 his dad passes away from a heart attack.  We are crushed again.
This time it was my turn to mend his broken heart.  It has been hard.  But beautiful to be the person he usually is in our relationship.  The caretaker. He needs me more than I need him.
11 years of bliss, heartache, challenges, beauty, breath taking love.
It is my favorite love story.  I can't wait to see the rest of it.  With him by my side.