As autumn leaves turn their brilliant hue
Two lovers will join and say I do

~Anonymous

That poem was featured on the my wedding invitation five years ago. My hubby and I tied the knot on October 2, 2004.

Five years may not sound like a long time, but you must consider that Shane and I dated for eight years before he made me an honest woman. And we have actually known each other for twenty years.

Shane and I met in high school. I was a sophomore and he was a junior. We had mutual friends. We went to different high schools, but my group of girl friends and his group of guy friends all hung out together. We stayed friends through college, but we didn’t fall in love until two weeks after I graduated. We hadn’t seen each other for a couple years, but re-united at our friend’s wedding. Shane was still in chiropractic school, so we spent the first eleven months of our relationship separated by two states. He was in Iowa and I was in Ohio. Needless to say, we burnt up the turnpike to visit each other every couple of weeks.

That was in 1996. It seems so long ago, but I’m just as in love with him now as I was then.

So happy anniversary, Shane. He’s to many more years of wedded bliss.