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I'm blessed. I didn't realize that until 4 years ago....January 10, 1997 to be exact. That's the day Christopher told me he loved me. That's also the day I realized I love him too.
But, to properly hear this story, you're gonna need for me to start at the beginning. The beginning isn't the prettiest of stories. It was November 1995. I didn't like myself very much then, and I got depressed a lot. It was around that time that I got AOL. I met Christopher in the country music chat room. I was depressed, feeling sorry for myself, and I wasn't the nicest person to him.....but he spent one night talking to me, a night I desperately needed someone to talk to. He was there, and he became my friend.
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We talked a lot, mostly through email cause AOL was charging by the hour back then. We wrote some very long emails to each other though. We had a unique friendship.....I knew tons of people online, but Christopher was always special.
For the longest time we played this little game....."I love ya like a brother" or "love ya sis". Yeah.....we did that. It actually makes me laugh when I think about it now. He called me "sis" and I called him "little brother" or "kiddo".
Then in 1996, something awful happened. Christopher's computer crashed. He lost everything, including all the information he had about me. He couldn't even call me to tell me what was wrong because my phone number was on the computer. I thought my dear friend was lost forever. It made me sad.
But.....he didn't give up. He eventually was able to use somebody else's computer to let me know that he was okay and that he didn't just disappear intentionally. I think after that we became closer than ever.
Something good also happened in 1996.....AOL went unlimited...YES!!!!!!!! We pretty much became inseperable then. We were spending 8 hours or more talking on the computer every night. Even though we were both dating other people at the time, we still found the time to talk to each other.
Then Christopher decided he was gonna come visit me. Of course I was ecstatic. My dear sweet friend was gonna come meet me face to face. We'd only seen pictures til this point. I don't remember when we first started talking about him coming to visit....sometime late in 1996. Then it went from "coming to visit" to "moving to Michigan". I was gonna help him find a place, I was even gonna help him find "someone special". LOL........its so funny to think about that now.
Then came that glorious day in January......I remember it so well. January 10th..... he was chatting with me online, and he said "do you think that when I move there, that there might be a chance that we could be more than friends?" I looked at the screen.......and I typed in the standard kind of response "of course we're more than friends, I love ya like a brother kiddo". BUT... something kept me from hitting that "send" button. I decided it was time for me to come clean about the feelings that had been happening for quite some time. I deleted that line of text and typed in just 4 little words...."that's up to you". (Christopher told me later, that waiting for those 4 words took an eternity.) His response "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Then once we finally convinced each other that we were both serious, I told him "I haven't seen little brother in a really long time." He told me he felt the same way.
Everything moved so fast from that point on. He proposed and I accepted long before we ever saw each other in person. We were so much in love, long before we ever came face to face.
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Suddenly the end of May (when he was supposed to finally move here) seemed like an eternity away. What would we do to keep from losing our minds til then?
We found away.........it involved many many hours on the computer, and limited time on the phone (well....it started out being limited anyway). Every day we had one special thing we would do for each other. This is how our week looked:
Tuesday
Phone call night (limited to 1 hour)
Wednesday
Write each other a poem
Thursday
Virtual flowers
Friday
Write a fantasy
Saturday
Exchange intersting or meaningful website and profiles we've found online.
Sunday
Pick out 10 quotes from the weeks emails to discuss online together.
We wrote some of the most beautiful poetry that has ever been written. At least that's how it looked to each other...in our eyes...because it came straight from the heart, along with the fantasies and letters. Everything was so romantic.
We also made each other a casette tape of songs we loved every week to include in the Monday package. One song stands out as a particular favorite to us. It's called "Love Is Always 17". I am older than my wonderful husband...it doesn't matter at all now, but in the beginning it bothered me a little bit. Then he sent me this song. Not every single lyric stands out as "special", but the general "I hope its you" feeling of the song is just totally US and the one line....the true meaning of the song....is sort of our motto. "It really doesn't matter how many years you've seen, love is always seventeen." Read the entire song below:
Click Here For A Song Clip
Love Is Always Seventeen
Seventeen, been awhile since I seen seventeen
And the years since then been mighty lean
But there's no use complainin'
Forty-two has a way of creepin' up on you
And my chances left are gettin' few
But there's still time remainin'
I been waitin' for someone who loves the way I do
Girl I got my fingers crossed in hopes it might be you
Twenty-one thats how many different jobs I've done
I remember quittin' every one
With no hesitatin'
Thirty-three thats how many women left on me
I don't have too good a history
But I don't mind waitin'
Cause it really doesn't matter how many years you've seen
Love is always seventeen.
Wonder if you'll be the one to end this lonesome heart
Girl I got a lot to build
And I'd sure like to start
It really doesn't matter how many years you've seen
Love is always seventeen.
It was a very long few months. We wanted to be together so badly, but there was over 700 miles between us. It wasn't long before phone call night went from an hour...to two hours...to three hours...to "the hell with it, we'll pay it off eventually". Along with not sticking to our Tuesday schedule, we got to the point where we were on the phone just about every day.
Then May finally got here...the three weeks left were gonna be the longest three weeks of my life. Then something WONDERFUL happened, he decided to move here early. I remember the day he got here. I was a nervous wreck because he was driving all that distance all alone and I was afraid he would either get lost or have an accident. (I'm a born worrier, my husband can tell you that). Fortunately, he got here without any problems. He looked totally wiped out when he got here.....but he looked good to me. He made it to the gas station two blocks away from my house before he called to say "where am I?" He called several times along the trip to let me know he was safe though.
I know I had to have the biggest smile in the world when he finally pulled up in my driveway. The first thing he did was give me a big hug (I can't even tell you how good that felt). We got him inside and settled, and showed him his room (in my parent's basement...my parents thought we were "friends" at that time). I don't remember there ever being an awkward moment between us, I just remember feeling so good to finally be with him.
The days that followed were filled with a lot of secret plans. We were planning to get married July 19th, but we wanted my parents to know Christopher before we told them we were getting married. Thinking back, maybe we should have just told them from day one instead of trying to hide it, but its over and done now and things worked out well anyway.
It was sometime in June when we told my parents. Of course they tried to talk us out of it, but we told them "we've already paid for the chapel". My mom said "if you won't let us talk you out of this, then let us help you". We were more than happy to do that.
Nobody thought we could plan a wedding and a reception on a month's notice. But we did it. It was a beautiful wedding too. We were married in the "Candleglow Wedding Chapel", and we had our reception at Pointe Masonic Temple.
July 19, 1997.........the day we began our "happily ever after".
The song "keeper of the stars" is one of the most special songs the two of us have ever heard. I walked down the aisle to that song, we danced our wedding dance to that song, and in both our wedding bands is engraved this quote "I've got all I'll ever need, thanks to the keeper of the stars". This webpage would not be complete without letting you experience "Our Song"
Click Here For A Song Clip
Keeper Of The Stars
It was no accident me finding you
Someone had a hand in it
Long before we ever knew
Now I just can't believe you're in my life
Heaven's smilin' down on me
As I look at you tonight
CHORUS:
I tip my hat to the keeper of the stars
He sure knew what he was doin'
When he joined these two hearts
I hold everything
When I hold you in my arms
I've got all I'll ever need
Thanks to the keeper of the stars
Soft moonlight on your face oh how you shine
It takes my breath away
Just to look into your eyes
I know I don't deserve a treasure like you
There really are no words
To show my gratitude
CHORUS:
I tip my hat to the keeper of the stars
He sure knew what he was doin'
When he joined these two hearts
I hold everything
When I hold you in my arms
I've got all I'll ever need
Thanks to the keeper of the stars
It was no accident me finding you
Someone had a hand in it
Long before we ever knew.
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