A JOURNEY - THE EARLY YEARS

Husband and I have been together for a billion years.  A billion.  More than any other couple on the planet. And we've never had an argument or a fight or a disagreement.  NOT!!!!!!!

OK, we HAVE been together for a billion years.  But we have had arguments, fights, and disagreements of MAJOR proportion.  We've always been "vocal debaters".  We "talked loudly". We've always had "healthy discussions".  And I used to be a "thrower".  There are some broken things in our past!  I'm not a "thrower" anymore.  I'm a recovering "thrower" for more than 20 years.  Amen.  You don't get a chip for that one, though.  I deserve one. (I'm a door-slammer, now.)

Husband and I both have our own VERY strong beliefs.  Luckily most of his beliefs and mine line up.  And most of those beliefs are of the liberal, free-thinking, make-sure-you-know-what-you're-doing, kind.  We try to be open-minded about things.  Works most of the time.

We have been together, on and off, from 5th grade on.  We grew up together in the same small Texas town.  We did everything together.  When we were speaking to each other, that is.  We dated other people, got back together, dated other people, got back together, dated other people, got back together.

Until about age 15.

We found OTHER reasons, at age 15, to be attracted to each other!  And other things to do!

We KNEW, however, even then, how to keep from contributing to the planet's population.  Yes we did. And managed to do so until the ages of 27.  We should do a PSA, like Sarah Palin's daughter, don't you think?  Only, I'm sure, we could one-up her, for obvious reasons. (Oh, gosh, I might have gone too far here, once again.)  Anywaaayyyyy............

Here are some pictures from our early years together. These pictures are in my head forever. Tattooed to the inside of my eyelids. Nothing could change them. I still love this man so much. We aren't going to be able to grow old together, as it turns out. But at least we got an early start.

This is Husband in his junior year of high school.  He was not nearly as tough as he thought he was.  He signed the picture very respectfully (albeit arrogantly!).  He wrote different things on the back, however!

And do you think this is the '70's or what????  I MADE the short prom dress on the right, so I guess I wanted it THAT short.  I'm sure I wasn't worrying too much about it when I wore it, though.  Check out the shoes in that picture, on both of us!!!  I think I can still feel my feet in those shoes when I look at them. And look at the blue suit Husband is wearing on the left. WHY would I have ever gone anywhere with a guy dressed in this suit?!  It was crushed-velvet!!!  Saturday Night Fever-ish, even before Saturday Night Fever.  And the tie?  Makes me shiver now. We were stylin' at the time, though.  And my hair, jeez.  I actually HAD curls.  I had to IRON my hair to get it to look like this.  And where were my bangs?  Did I not realize I needed bangs on that huge forehead?  I think we'd both had too much Strawberry Hill on both occasions. Or Pabst Blue Ribbon. Or Cherry Vodka.  And there might have been some other things thrown in there, too.  Ahh, the 70's!

This is Husband with his John Lennon glasses, and his summer haircut, and his summer tan, and his summer biceps from working on the dock at Lake Whitney.  How cute is he!  He was 18.  I had just gotten a new kitten, Sam, and Husband was trying his best to like him. (He's still trying his best, even today, with Pancho and Luci.)

                                 

AND, high school graduation pictures.........  Check out my hair!  Farrah Fawcett, eat your heart out!  Well, it was an effort, at least.  And, I've realized that I didn't have full eyebrows even then - only half.  Maybe I was born without them. Hum.

This is probably my favorite picture of our "pre-marriage" years.  I was a senior in high school.  Husband was a freshman in college.  We were, obviously, very grown up! This was the Christmas dance-1972. I made this dress also. It was one of my favorites. I wish I still had it (like I could fit into it!) just to wear around the house. It was VELVET and it weighed 7,000 pounds. I'm pretty sure Husband was holding me up in this picture. Although, maybe for different reasons! Again, the 70's!!!!  I can still feel his hand on my shoulder, and how happy we were on that night.

And then we got married.  At 19!  And why not. We'd done everything else.

Then we moved to Austin for college. And a whole different life began................