The Crystal Anniversary

As I have stated earlier on this blog, Steph and I grew up together at the same church where her family and my family met.  We really didn't meet.  We were just there in the nursery together, probably looking across the room from the cage like kid cubbyholes that were built into the wall (seriously, they were built into the wall with sliding bars on them just like you see at the animal shelter).
There's a lot of creepy, yet not creepy things like that about us.  She's the baby of her family. I'm the baby of my family.  Her dad worked for Diebold, Inc.  My dad worked at Diebold, Inc.  Her mom was a stay at home mom.  My mom was a stay at home mom.  She has two older siblings.  I have two older siblings.  She's beautiful.  I'm beautiful!

In my life, Stephanie Jo Kuhl has always been there.  My earliest memories of her are from the 4s and 5s class we used to go to.  I remember sitting around a funky shaped table with her and some of the other kids in the class.  A little later on, I remember being in a Palm Sunday play with her.  I don't remember anything of the play, who was who, and so on, but I remember sitting at this table with her and her cousin, who was also in the play.

One of my my most vivid memories of her in those pre-teen years is from a sledding night our church had at my Aunt's house.  My aunt had a great sledding hill.  When we would get enough snow to cover the corn stalks, we would toboggan down it.  It took a little skill to maneuver the hill, but my big brother was an expert at making the turn.  By turn, I mean the 40 degree left turn you needed to make about 3/4 of the way down the hill.  If you didn't, you were in trouble because you were bound to encounter a barbed wire fence.  Steph's brothers didn't know of this turning need.  They piled on a toboggan and took off down the hill.  Stephanie was unscathed, though shaken.  Her brothers were bloodied a little, but they lived to sled again!

If I remember correctly, I think Steph rode with me down the hill once that night.  I was probably giddy about it because she was a girl and I was a boy.  That's what boys do when girls ride on sleds with them.  I probably also remember this because I'm sure my big brother gave me crap about riding on a sled with her later, though I've blocked that from my memory.

Yet, in all of these memories, there was never anything remotely romantic for us outside of the sled moment we had until after we graduated high school.  Only then, did we begin dating.  On our first date I took her to see the movie, Juice.  It was her choice.  We went to McDonalds after the movie and I had her home by 9:30pm.  I was such a loser then.

Needless to say, I've known this girl all my life.  She's grown on me over the years.  We've traversed from the icky girl/boy stage to the "how you doing" stage all the way to the whatever stage it is we are in now.  Its been quite the journey.  She knows my secrets.  I know hers.  We are one.  And all of that is why I am rejoicing today.  Because, 15 years ago, Stephanie Jo Kuhl became my bride.  For some crazy reason, in all of the creepy above, she wanted to bind herself to me.  And I am thankful for it!

Babydoll, its been 15 years of love.  You were beautiful on that day you became mine.  You are even more beautiful now because I've had 15 more years to fall even farther in love with you.  I pray that my love for you brings you joy, hope, and peace!