13 YEARS

It has been the hardest and best
13 years of my life and I am sooo grateful!

Dic and I were married June 8, 1996....
13 really long, wonderful years ago.

We met when I had just graduated from high school at age 17 at the city softball fields. He was a stalker...I was sure of that! I had been visiting with my dad and after I left Dic came up to him and asked who the girl with the nice a** was. You can imagine what my dad's response was....not so sure of the words, I just know that Dic got a really hard elbow to the gut. My parents knew him because of Post 22 Legion baseball, which it seems we went to watch every summer for most of my childhood. I never thought I would ever hook up with one of those studs who were oh-so-cute, but soo much older than me. I tell people Dic was pitching for Post 22 and I was swinging on the monkey bars! Five years was a BIG difference back then. Anyway, back to my story.......Dic followed me home at some point and asked me out. I was still seeing a guy from high school and so I declined, as flattered as I was. But he kept at it throughout the summer....asking my brother and sister when I was gonna drop the loser I was dating. But that was the end of that for awhile. That next winter I was attending BHSU and he came to Spearfish for a basketball game, as he was going to SDSM&T. I was lifting weights to prepare for a body-building competition and he saw me so we talked for awhile. That next summer I was determined to hunt him down at the softball fields and that I did. He asked me out, just as planned, :0) we were engaged a year after, and married 5 years to the day.

Marriage is never what it's expected to be, and you never really "get it" when people tell you it will be difficult. It's one of those things that has to be experienced to truly understand, and some just never get it right.

We have had soo very many ups and downs that sometimes I thought we would never make it......but every day has made us stronger. He has turned into a more loving, caring, spiritual husband than I ever thought he was capable of, and I know I have changed enormously since we came together. We're even different than 5 years ago......2 years ago. We talk more, we listen more, we definitely challenge each other more and respond to each other's needs. Things are good and peaceful and I think we both cherish every day more than the last.

13 years of love, laughter, tears, and growth........
and I am grateful.

I love you, Dic.
Every day, I love you.
Kendra