Entry Three

I’m Nikky. My fiancé David and I have a story that is a bit untraditional. However as I look back on it I never once wondered if we would make it. We have simply never allowed circumstances to dictate our happiness. As the story unfolds you will see what I mean.

Our story starts at work, nearly 7 years ago. We really didn’t have much to do with each other besides the everyday ins and outs. I was his boss. A fact he still does not swallow easily. While a natural attraction existed between the two of us, I always thought he was too risky and restless. I was right. He was so restless he quit his job to join the Army. However before he left we had already kindled an extremely strong friendship. As he bounced around the country training and getting stationed here and there our friendship remained strong. It really is true what they say: absence makes the heart grow fonder. So fond in fact, I found myself travelling to odd destinations like Oklahoma just to visit him. Other times we would meet halfway between our two locations just to spend the day together at the zoo, or go to dinner and a movie.

Needless to say, at this point it seemed to be more than friendship. However, no matter how our relationship evolved, it always seemed like the natural progression of things for people that shared such a deep bond and inspired friendship. We maintained this type of relationship for two years. I don’t think either of us ever had the “he’s/she’s the one moment. The strength of our friendship had always dictated that we would be part of each other’s lives forever. Instead of a moment we had a slow settling in, like falling asleep with a big blanket on a cold evening.

Eventually, the inevitable happened. He deployed to Afghanistan. Shortly before he deployed I found out we were pregnant with our first son, Chase. We could have had a quick wedding and been done with it just to keep up appearances but he was always convinced that I deserved better. He wanted to be able to give me the grand treatment. So, we waited.
The relationship was now tried like it had never been before. He was deployed to a hostile zone for over a year. He watched our son’s birth on Skype. It was so odd to see the tears stream from the face of a big tough Army man in full uniform. I think he was crying more about not being with me than the joys of fatherhood.

We kept up with letters, email, and Skype but it was so hard. Being a working mom without my partner was difficult. It was easy to get mad at him for not being around, but I had to remember he was doing the best thing for his family and his country. He was not able to come home on leave for three months. When he did come home on leave our love was still as vibrant and as passionate as ever. It was amazing watching him interact with our son for the first time and I found new reasons to love him every day. We were also able to remember many old reasons to love each other as we prepared for his inevitable return to combat.
The day he had to return to Afghanistan was the hardest we have endured to date. Even our son at 3 months old was restless and clingy. He would not return for nearly 6 months. It would have been easy to grow apart but we worked hard every day to make sure we kept him involved in home life and that we kept our relationship strong by focusing on the positive things. The things we loved about each other.

Upon his return he brought me a ring. Our engagement was probably not glamorous but he did make a production out of it. We stayed at a beautiful waterfront hotel on Lake Michigan, in Chicago. We had expensive dinners every night, spa treatments, and sightseeing. He popped the question at an old farmhouse south of Chicago that we had gone to so we could be part of a Murder Mystery Dinner. He ended up being the “murdrer”(through a little finagling with the staff) and he had only these words to say in defense of his crime: “Will you marry me Nikky?”

Again, we found our lives in upheaval as he transitioned out of the Army. We had homes and jobs to find, plans for the future, and a relationship tried by fire that we knew could withstand anything the future would bring. Shortly after he left the military we found out we were pregnant with our second son, Owen. Again our relationship would be tried in ways we could never imagine.

Owen was born with a rare deformation of the hand known as symbradachtly. We now had a disabled, yet gorgeous, and otherwise healthy, infant. Again, our wedding plans were put on hold. We grew so much as a family and a couple over the following several months. It is not to say that we didn’t have our bumps, and that our relationship was not continuously tried, but we found ways to keep the focus on our love. We kept that passion burning that had been going for so long now.

Finally here we are. Now we are planning our wedding for September 20th, 2014. Looking back on the long journey it took just to stand where we are today always brings a smile to my face. As I said, it is an untraditional story, but we have always been untraditional people. It’s far from a fairytale, but at the same time it is OUR story. We have endured more trials in just a few short years then most couples face in their lifetime. Through it all, our love has grown stronger than I could have ever imagined. We are now ready to marry and begin the next chapter in the story. If the first one was this exciting, we are in for one crazy, love filled romance.

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