It will take me a while to type it out as it's a long story. I will do so - just give me a bit.

Tuscaloosa. Tuesday night pledge party

Church camp.

Which one?

My best friend and roommate was dating a girl who lived 2 doors down from us in college. I saw my wife down there one day and started doing a little investigative work on her. I asked her out to dinner with a few couples and we've been together since

Y'all fess up, how many of you met her at the family reunion.

17 years ago on a blind date. One of my best friends wife worked with her at the hospital and set us up on a Thursday night. Don't think we went a day without seeing one another for about 6 months after that. She is my "Wonder Woman" she's a fantastic mother, wife and my best friend. She hunts and fishes, is not afraid to mow grass or do yard work. Can clean a deer, can shoot, etc, etc. Shes damn near perfect and will even tell you she's just like all women in that she's a little crazy. As you can tell I'm still smitten!! Did I forget that she's beautiful as well?

I worked for Coke at the time, and on Fridays we always ate at this same restaurant she was a waitress at. We always flirted, so one Friday I asked her out, and here we are 23 years later happy as larks!

Me and a guy was working at a store. He tells me to meet his girlfriend so I met her and we shook hands. Then after we was walking back up front she dumped him and ran to me and said I want to be your girl forever. That's the gist of the story. we have been married 9 years now

Her sister was in one of my classes at college so.....

Had a little party one time with three bands and over 1000 folks swing by the house, she was one of them...

I saw her at a party when I was 19 and she wouldn't talk to me so I forgot about her. Saw her at a different party a few weeks later and she had a much different attitude. What changed in those few weeks? I got no idea. All these years later I still can't figure out the moods of women.

I sure hope she doesn't stumble onto aldeer and read this.

We met in junior high school in Paris, TX. Started dating freshman year of high school. Married the summer we graduated in '79. This August makes 38 years.

Alpha Psi rodeo 2010...Pat Green concert.

We had mutual friends and one of them hooked us up

this

Great time there

We have a winner!!

It was January 7 2004 and I was riding a ducati monster home from work because my car was having it's third engine put in (kind of a pocket rocket but bad to eat engines), and it was about twenty degrees. You all know how bad I hate cold so you know it was miserable. I had on almost all of the real cold weather gear I owned but I was actually going to freeze to death if I didn't stop and warm up.

My wife of 20 years had talked me into paying for the most invasive gastric bypass surgery about 6 months earlier (she put on 150lbs after I started cooking for her lol). She left about three months after the surgery the first time and showed back up when she ran out of money from time to time.

She had showed up long enough to talk me out of half of my Christmas bonus and was gone again on Christmas Eve.

I stopped at one of the few upscale restaurants in Springville at the time - Main Sreet Bistro. The maitre d' looked me up and down with his nose in the air and asked "carry out?". I replied "I will dining in this evening. He tells me he has no tables. I reply that I will be happy to wait. He sniffed and walked off.

I sit down for about ten minutes basking in the glory that is forced air heat and got comfortable. A young lady walks by and asks if I am waiting on a go order and I tell her no maam I'm waiting to be seated and I'm not in a hurry. She leads me to a massive table that normally seats 10 and I park it. She gets my drink order and walks away. The place is packed. They have three stories and about twenty people in the front of the house running about everywhere.

I start pulling off clothes and placing them in the adjacent chairs. After I overflowed two I had to get up and walk to the next chair to continue pulling off tops. She came back with my drink and sat down to take my order. First tip off. I was watching all these girls running back and forth but she just parked it and talked while i ordered. We discussed the menu items and I settled on grouper pontchartrain.

When the meal came out, she sat down by me again and talked to me for the half hour it took me to eat. She pried out of me why I was riding a motorcycle on a single digit night - the ex-wife had taken my truck and all I had was the car and bike for now and the stupid car took a dump on me. It didn't help that I beat the snot out of it on those back roads along and up/down straight mountain.

When the meal was done and I was no longer in danger of dying a hideous frozen death, I got up to leave and as I was paying she handed me a card and told me the store hours were on that. I never turned it over and put it in my wallet.

The next day at work I was telling my co-worker about the place as he had just bought thirty acres in Springville to make a subdivision for him and his friends. I pulled out the card to show him the hours and he flipped it over and said who is Kristy? I said "hell if I know".

I had never asked her name. Turns out she had just gotten out of a thirteen year nightmare marriage and I was in the death throes of what turned out to be a twenty two year nightmare marriage. I was kind of in my "hate women" stage and spent every extra hour in the gym, dojo or the pond/woods around my house. After some chit being given to me for not looking at the damn card, I was determined to call and speak to her to see if she really was interested and to see if we would mesh - I had not seen anyone since the wife left the first time and was pretty lonely.

As I drove home that day - one week after my visit to Main Street, the wife called and said she would be home when I got there. I immediately got out my wallet and threw away the incriminating evidence - out the window went Kristy's card going up I-59 at 75 mph. That woman went through my phone/wallet/puter/everydamnthing (as Troy would say lol) and I wasn't about to give her any ammo to start yet another fight. That's part of why I NEVER EVER EVER go through any personal belongings now. It's just not right for one and I don't want to know for two - let me live in bliss if you don't mind. Of course, the wife was there, of course she wanted to make up, of course she was wearing what looked like an old shiner (yellow a bit on the left side of her left eye). Of course we got in a damn fight again after we had too much wine and she chased me around with a shotgun.

I went to work in a pissy mood and didn't care who knew. I didn't make any friends that day that I am aware of. I owned two companies that I had to deal with whatever was going on and worked for the oldest civil engineering firm in Birmingham forty hours a week. The masonry company was doing great and I tried to outwork our messican but never actually did it - only one of two dudes that ever outworked me and I'm a midget almost. I walked around doing whatever needed doing for a couple of days and I must have been a pill because my mason finally cornered me up and said "don't come back on a job and help until you figure out whatever it is that's eating you".

I drove to the beach that weekend and got on a charter and fished. The absolute most favorite thing in the world to do and it sucked.

I came home and parked in front of the restaurant and read the phone number off the door and called and asked for Kristy. The girl that answered asked who I was and I said my name and said also "she probably won't remember me, I was in here on a very cold night and was riding a bike. The chick on the phone let out a squeek and told me to hold she would go get her. She wouldn't give me a date that night - she made me wait a week. She was the manager of that place for almost two decades. She baked cakes and made pastries on the side for every restaurant in town and for over a hundred families on a private basis.

We have not been apart since. I mean not at all. She saved me from freezing that night and she has kept me warm since. She even went hunting (she's a pacifist) with me and was the camera person until I actually went to kill something - that buck got a pass and she hasn't been hunting with me since. She is the nicest, sweetest person I have ever met in my life and I can't imagine a life without her.

Scares me to death every day. I've lost everyone I ever cared about to an early death, some to violence and one who died in my arms. I don't mean to be but I am the kiss of death. If I lose her I will come apart.

We married on Independence Day 2007. I claim that because all of her family are military and all of the good ones in my family are military - it shows we support the country and all of those fireworks are for her alone.

She claims it's so my smacked in the head too many times dumb ass will remember our anniversary.

I was invited to church by an acquaintance. He mentioned a girl there he was interested in. She apparently wasn't interested in him. She's sitting beside me right now.

It was a hot summer Friday afternoon and me and the boys were parked at our local gas station, sitting on the tailgates of our trucks drinking beer. We always seam to draw a crowd. An ole gal one of my buddies was messin with pulled up and this little young lady got out her truck with a small yellow bathing suit top and some nice little white jean shorts and walked up. I had know of her from school but she was younger and never really noticed her. Well I damn sure noticed her that afternoon. I tend to turn into a clown when I start drinking and we were having a big ole time and I asked her if she was single and she said yes. I asked her is she wanted to change that. She said maybe. Well I musta put the charm on thick because yesterday was 19 years we have been married. Thank God she showed up that afternoon.