I Like the Number Nine

It was November 3, 2000 when a 16 year old me became Ryan Vinett's official girlfriend. We had been friends for a while. I knew I was busting his chops when I made him ask me to be his girlfriend. We had come a long way in just one year; and even further since the first time I met him. I HATED Ryan the first time I met him. Like today, he did not have a filter. If a thought enters his mind it slips through his lips before he even considers if it is rude or not. The first thing he ever said to me was, "your room stinks". Ryan was really good friends with a boy who lived down the street from us, and my brother and Ryan's friend were friends. 
 
The second time I met him I still did not like him. He left me scratching my head. I was visiting Father Ryan as an eighth grader. Since I went to a public middle school, it was not with a group. I visited all by myself.  I was in the sophomore hallway, when a boy I recognized came up to me and asked, "Do you know 'so-and-so'?" He was wearing a yellow oxford shirt with a yellow tie. A look I would have never suggested anyone wear, but it actually went pretty well together. As my face turned the color of tomato, I smiled and said, "yes". Then Ryan goes, "that's what I thought." And, that was it. As he was walking away with his Vinett Strut I thought he was so strange.  I did not like him at all. I thought he was such a jerk and just...ugh cocky.  Ryan  and I had become friends during a summer school Spanish class. We started hanging out everyday and became really good friends. He was such a nut. I would dare him to do these crazy things, and he would do it, almost every time. Once we were at the mall, and as we were walking past a mattress store I dared him to jump from bed to bed. I never thought he would do it, but he did it. Once I took him to my favorite sushi place. It was the first time he ever had sushi and I was teaching him how to use chopsticks. Somehow, I flung the sushi piece across the room. I was mortified.  We had so much fun together. He would make me laugh until my stomach hurt, and he would look at me like I hung the moon.  I think he was starting to fall. I had not yet lost my balance. Ryan would call my house and my oldest brother would answer the phone. Gordon would say sure hold on, and then hang up on Ryan. Did Ryan care? Nope, he just called right back. Gordon would answer again, and Ryan would say some smart a** remark like, hey man I think we got disconnected is Erika there.
 
Ryan and I had gone to a dance together. It was the first time he ever met my dad- I think.  Ryan pulled into my driveway and HONKED the horn. Right?! I know! He honked his horn. My dad was outside walking his designer Papillions, Duke and Duchess and he was livid! My dad's bark has always been worse than his bite, except when it comes to me. My dad laid into Ryan; veins popping out of his neck, red-faced angry.  Since, we weren't dating and I knew Ryan was kind of a jerk anyway I thought it was kind of funny that my dad was yelling at him.  Served him right- jerk. My dad almost didn't let me go, but I think my mom talked him into it. The more I got to know Ryan, not the jerk, but the real Ryan. I started to notice that his eyes sparkled and his Vinett Strut wasn't that bad. The next time Ryan came to pick me up he brought a dozen roses and rang the door bell. He gave 11 of the flowers to me, and one to my mom.
 
Ryan and I have been together for 13 years. We have grown up together. We have had some amazing times and some really tough times. He has blessed me with 4 amazing children, an another one in  the oven. We have both graduated from high school as a couple dating; and college as a married couple. He has helped me establish my dreams and the life I have always wanted. I always wanted to be a wife. Ryan asked me to marry him, after he and my dad did some serious male bonding over tequila the weekend my younger brother graduated from high school. I was "asleep" in my brother's childhood twin size bed, when I heard them talking about a ring. I heard ooh's and ahhh's. And I heard my dad say, "I love you son. Be good to her." Several months later Ryan asked me to be his wife.
 
Ryan has given me the gift of motherhood. On August 29, 2003; November 23, 2005; January 4, 2010 and April 25, 2011 I have held a child who represented our love for one another, tears of exhaustion, awe and utter fascination as I looked into his eyes that sparkle and thanked him. Ryan is an incredible father. My kids are blessed.  He is a wonderful provider. He sacrifices so much, so that we don't have to do without. We are polar opposites. But, we can be silly, fight, love and laugh. At the end of the day I know I can count on him to be by my side for the ups the downs, and the mundane in between. Ryan will never be romantic. He will never leave little post-it notes around the house or send flowers to my office just because or even for my birthday (mainly because he knows what a waste of money I think flowers are), but I can always count on him to be by my side.
 
 I thank your mom everyday that you were born (okay, not everyday, but the important ones), for your work ethic, honesty and your class. I thank your dad that your were born, for showing you what it means to be a good dad (nothing else as a man is more important), for coaching and teaching,  and what a large family means.  I can honestly say that there have been times that I did not think we would see our sixth, seventh, eighth and surely not our ninth anniversary. Tomorrow will be our 9 year anniversary.  But, Ryan and I made a commitment to one another, our children  and most importantly to God. Being in love is not a feeling,  but it is a choice a selfless one. There are days when our love has come as easily as waking up in the morning; and days loving him was like walking on fire. Our relationship is nowhere near perfect. We have terrible arguments. We have almost started where the "Bill and Betty Show" left off; almost.  There are days where our relationship could be a sitcom, a bad lifetime movie, and even a tragedy; but it is ours every 3,285 days of it...ours. Ryan Vinett, Happy Anniversary. I love you to the moon and back. Thank you for our boys, our angel, and our little peanut, who is developing on track with a heartbeat and all. And most of all thank you for loving me. I look forward to the next 3,285 days.
 
 

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