27 Years Encounting.

My parents' wedding anniversary is coming up and I was thinking about their story, how they met, fell in love, and how they've managed to stay in love for the last 27 years. I'd like to say that I know how lucky I am for my parents' longlasting happiness, but somehow, I still doubt I fully grasp how lucky I really am. I don't think I'd ever fully understand unless I was living on the opposite side of the spectrum. Thank goodness I haven't had to and I'm sorry to those who have.

Sometimes I wonder what would've happened if my parents hadn't ended up together. My parents met under strange circumstances. Dad was in school and Mom was living with a girl who was going to the same school. Mom tried her hand at the jewelry business and Dad washed dishes for $1.35 an hour in the early morning hours, cramming text books during the day. They only knew of each other because they shared the same group of friends, but after spending more time together, it was apparent they were very interested in each other. But when Mom confessed to Dad that her jewelry business was going under and she would have to move back in with her parents, who lived several hours away, my Dad stepped up and told her he didn't want her to go...

And I can't help wondering what would've happened if my dad hadn't said or done what he did. What if he'd just let her go home? And what if my mom hadn't agreed to stay? What if she'd gone home despite knowing how my dad felt about her? What if neither of them had taken those risks? Would they have missed out on a life together? Would they have found each other later on?

Mom told me once that the difference between Dad and all the other guys she'd dated before was that he never failed to make her feel like she was "the only one." I suppose she must've done the same for him. And I'm so glad my parents ended up together. Not just because I'm a result of that, but also because I've seen how happy they are together. And it's exactly what I hope for myself someday.