Before I get to writing about special needs children or my children in general I would like to first explain how my family came to be, so I'm going to start from the beginning.
On April, Friday the 13th, 2003 Tiffany and I were setup on a blind date. I had just turned 25 years old and Tiffany was a few months younger at 24. Our mutual friend and match maker, April, had setup us up and she was doubling with her boyfriend on our first day for a fun night out on the town. I had never even seen a picture of Tiffany nor did I know much about her but regardless, I was still extremely excited about this date.... Tiffany on the other hand... not so much. She had just gotten out of a long relationship and wasn't really looking forward to this date. In fact, I found this out later, but the only reason she went on the date was because April promised she would buy Tiffany and new outfit if she didn't like me. One other thing I should mention is that we had already planned our second date not even knowing how the first would go. We all had tickets to Six Flags for a full day of Sunday fun. This was a bad idea but looking back at it, it's probably one of the reasons we eventually got married and grew our family.
With out going into to too much detail I'm happy to say our first date went horrible. When April, her date Nathan and I we went to pick Tiffany up she was nowhere near ready. I think she was relaxing in the bathtub when her little sister answered the door. After waiting on her for a while the date eventually started and I could tell right away that Tiffany had no desire to be there. When I asked her questions about herself she found a way to tell the answer to April instead of me. I'm pretty sure she was trying to scare me away by ordering expensive drinks, taking a sip and then pushing them away with the excuse of "I don't like it" just to order something different. We made three stops that night and it pretty much got worse as the night when on. I have to say, I'm no Don Juan so I probably wasn't helping out with the situation. I was as awkward as a cow on a crutch. By the last stop I could see a small glimpse of her having fun, not so much with me... Her and April had a few laughs together though. When I dropped her off that evening I walked her to her door and said good night. That was it, am I'm sure Tiffany was thinking that was the last she would ever hear from me. She was also probably excited about her new outfit April was going to buy her.
Mid day Saturday I was hanging out at my house and I kept thinking about our plans to go to Six Flags the next day. I mean, I really didn't want to hang out with Tiffany all that much, but for some strange reason I felt the need to give her a call. Maybe she would let me take her out for dinner, just her and myself. So I gave her a call. I could hear the shock in her voice when she answered her phone and heard me on the other end. I told her I felt the date the night before was a disaster and I still wanted to go to Six Flags. I wanted some one-on-one time with her before we decided to go (or not to go) on a second date. I went and picked her up and we went to a shoe store where she helped me pick out some shoes. We then went and saw the Adam Sandler movie Anger Management. That evening when I dropped her off I gave her the most awkward first kiss of all times. I still kick myself to this day, but I was no good at this "first kiss" thing. I was over thinking it because I hadn't experienced many first kisses in a relationships, nor did I want to. I told her good night, leaned in to give her a kiss, closed my eyes and gave her an extremely fast peck on what I was pretty sure were her lips. I was in my car backing out of her driveway before she could even get her eyes back open.
Even with all of the awkwardness and the horrible first date, once we met on that Friday the 13th night, it was very rare for anybody to see us separately again.
Everything moved extremely fast from that point. 3 months after we met we were engaged. 6 months after that we were married. We were and still are truly in love with each other. She is my one and only and I thank God multiple times every day for her.
This is just the beginning of the life God has laid out for us. Now, ten years later, I can look back and see we have been trough a lot of trials and tribulations that may have easily ripped others marriages apart, but I'm thankful for each and every bump in our road because it has built this family into the one it is today. I can honestly say I love my wife more today than I did yesterday. It's been an ongoing adventure and I can't wait to see what's next.
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