HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Today is my 20th wedding anniversary! (Plus six years together before we were married makes 26 years.) Wow! Its hard to believe that its been that long. I sincerely hope that my kids can find someone that they are able to be happy with for that long. I think of how much we've changed over those years and am amazed. I was only 17 years old when we started to date although Tom was "an older man" at 21 years old. I think of other peoples opinions, many thought we were all wrong for each other.

Things I heard from people were:

She's just going out with him because of his car (a blue Camero).
They just don't seem like a good match.
She would be nicer if she wasn't going out with him.
From my father: "We don't like those kind of people, they have cocktails as soon as they come home, then a cocktail with dinner and another one before they go to bed." (Tom never drinks and his parents rarely do)
A long distance relationship will never work. (He was in NJ and I was in NH)
Overheard from an uncle: "Now I know why they are not happy with them being together." Not sure what made him come to that opinion.

I also heard things like:

You are so lucky to be so young and you've already found the person you will be with for life.
Many people have told me over the years how much they admire my marriage and how they want their marriage to be just like mine.

So the moral of the story is to follow your heart but keep a practical side to your thoughts too. Only you can choose the person that is right for you. Sometimes its hard to block out what others are saying but you can't let it influence you. It could backfire in two ways - one is that other people's opinions may make you leave the person who is right for you and the other is that you may rebel and purposely go out with someone who is not right for you just to spite all the naysayers.

I was able to see through all the babble and make the right decision! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TOM!!