Me & My Toad

It's getting close to our 7th anniversary (or 14th depending on how you look at it) and all the seemingly random events that lead to our marriage have been running through my mind. I've come to the conclusion that they were not random at all. I like to think that it was more of a divine intervention from my guardian angels (my dad & grand dads). I had once told Larry (aka Toad) that we had met back in 1995 because my Dad was looking out for me and said up in heaven "she's not ready for him yet but here he is anyway" and that is how we ended up crossing paths. Divine intervention aside here is our story.

It was the early spring of 1995 in San Angelo Texas. I was working at the Officer's Club at Goodfellow AFB and Larry was stationed there for training. Larry has told me that he saw me many times when I was working the lunch shift at the "O Club". I only vaguely remember seeing him. The first night I clearly remember meeting him is the night his class was having a BBQ at one of the picnic areas on base. I had been invited by some other folks and when I arrived the party was in full swing! Larry had his blue Dodge truck with the keg in the bed of the truck and made me sing with him before I could get to the keg! The song was Bob Seger's "Turn the Page" (which, by the way, he is playing for me right now as I write this). I guess I should also mention that I was under 21 at this time! Larry likes to say he was contributing to the delinquency of a minor! I only saw him around base a few more times after that party and the last time was just before he shipped out to Germany. He stopped by the O Club to say goodbye and we exchanged numbers. Over the next 7 1/2 years we stayed in touch through letters and the 3am phones calls to Germany (waking him up). We were able to get together for dinner once in a while when he was close by, but other than that our entire friendship was long distance. Ironically, he was the only person I was petrified of telling about having my son.

Fast forward to 2000. Larry was out of the Army for a while by this point and was working for a company is Charlottesville. He traveled regularly to Ft. Meade Maryland which was only thirty minutes from my house in Baltimore. So we were able to visit much more often in person than we were ever able to before; but we were just friends. Or so I thought. Larry had always said he was never getting married and having kids. Although every once in while he would do something that made me question his conviction. By late 2001 I had been laid off from my job and was looking for a new one. Larry had offered to give my resume to the company he worked for and I ended up with an interview. Long story short I didn't get the job. When I told Larry about it he seemed a bit off, almost ticked off.

A few days later I get a call from him telling me that he wants Chase and I to come and stay with him till I can get back on my feet. I pretty much told him he was crazy; he had no clue what he was getting himself into and that it was my responsibility to figure things out. By the end of that conversation he had convinced me to come for the weekend to talk about it. All of Friday and Saturday he was telling me how he wanted to help us and how it was the "logical choice" to let him help. Well Sunday rolled around and I was more confused than ever and grabbed him by the shirt collar saying "Dammit, you are straight forward with everyone but me. What the heck is going on". With a look of shock on his face he told me it was because he was in love with me and had been since we met in 95'. He even admitted that when we would talk on the phone while he was in Germany he would say to himself "if I'm not careful I'll wind up marrying her". I told him that I still couldn't just move in with him, that I wasn't that "kind" of person. Then he said "well then...we should just get married." I was shocked, overwhelmed and happy all at the same time! It felt so right in so many ways and of course I said yes! We both called our moms that same day and told them we were engaged. I told my Mom and all she said was "about dam time"! Larry's mom had said close to the same when he told her. Apparently they knew something we didn't! So on the drive back to Baltimore so many things were running through my head and the farther I got away from him the more my heart ached and the more I missed him terribly and knew deep in my soul it was right!

Chase and I had moved in with Larry in Charlottesville just after New Year's Eve 2002 and the three of us were married on February 23rd. My amazement didn't end there! A couple of weeks after our wedding I became pregnant with our daughter Kalyn and then a few weeks after that Larry asked me if he could adopt Chase. This was something that had never entered my mind till that moment. I was just simply happy to be blessed to have married my best friend and have a father figure in Chase's life. When Larry asked me this he simply said "if you think about it...if I had gotten off my ass all those years ago Chase should have been mine to begin with"! Needless to say I cried...a lot! The adoption was finalized on the 23 of August 2002; followed by the birth of our daughter Kalyn on the 27th of November 2002.

I can't find enough words to say how truly happy and blessed I feel to be married to my best friend! I now have more in my life than I ever thought I would or even deserved to have. Larry is my prince, my best friend, my heart and the best father to our children I could have ever asked for! I'm loving you now and always!