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Northwest Living: My 15-year anniversary
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Anonymous user Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
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0 responses 0 comments June 22, 1991. Fifteen years ago today, Lisa and I were married.

How different we are now — after all these years — than we were on the day we wed. We were just a couple of naïve college kids who had no idea what our future together would hold.

We had enough trouble just trying to make it to class, let alone know how to be a spouse to each other.

I guess nobody really knows how their fiancé will turn out... Will he be a good provider? Will she be a good mother? Will we still be together in 5, 10, 30 years?
It seems strange to us that we don’t have many friends who have stayed together, but I guess the odds are not in a married couple’s favor. We’ve had our rough patches, but everyone does, and you go on, in our case, together.

I feel lucky that a genuinely good soul chose me as her husband. She might tell you we chose each other, but in our case, it was she who nudged us past being just friends so many years ago. Sometimes I wonder what the 16-year-old Lisa saw in the 17-year-old me…

As it turns out, we’re a pretty good fit. It really has been the small things we two friends have done with and for each other that has made it such a good marriage. Lisa says she knew I was ‘the one’ when she once needed a certain feminine product, and I didn’t hesitate to go to the store to get it for her.

I’ll never forget the time I was working for Clear Channel Radio. My show was No.1 when it was time to re-up my contract. The company refused to re-negotiate my salary, and it was my wife who suggested I quit instead of being paid less than I was worth —  a pretty incredible thing for a young stay-at-home mom with no savings to propose. Like every other challenge, we moved on, with each other.

I’ve always thought it was cool my wife would rather risk me finding another job than have me taken advantage of.

We waited many years for my rocky career to get going before we started having kids. Our daughters have brought us more joy and love than we could ever have imagined. And, once again, I’m surprised at how well we compliment each other as parents.

 With the demands that kids put on our time, I’m grateful for all of those years I got their mommy to myself. 

It’s been quite a ride going through life and growing as individuals, and it’s not that I’m anxious to see them go, but once the kids are gone, I look forward to more time with my wife as we face the next phase of our lives, together, as always.
E-mail Dean at: dean@kgfm.com

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