Happy Anniversary to me!!

I am going to pretend that today is December 23, 1983. It is very cold today, actually -15 degrees. Kenny and Gene Baugh are putting a drive line in the dump truck. Kenny Mercer is my boyfriend. Actually a little more than that, since we have been living together over a year. We have discussed marriage for awhile, but not got around to it yet.

When Kenny and Gene went to pick up the drive line at Pueblo Brake and Clutch they found it closed for, of all things, a Christmas Party. Gene went home and Kenny came in the house. It was then that I discovered how romantic that man could be! His exact words were "Let's go get this shittin' mess over with!" Now I ask you, what woman in her right mind could turn down a proposal like that?

So I got my new jeans on and my blue and white checkered cowboy shirt and away we went to Canon City, 30 miles up the road. Got the license and then needed some sort of preacher. As luck would have it we found one at the local assisted living facility. A resident minister, his bed ridden wife and another older lady walking down the hall with her walker. Having made short work of that little technicality we returned home, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Mercer, to find a very cheap bottle of wine left on our table by Gene Baugh, who knew our intentions.

Months later Gene would not drink it because if he knew he would have to drink it he would have got some good stuff. So we shared it with a son- in- law who first had to shake it up real good and then shoot the cork across the room at me.

Below you can see a few pictures of my Kenny and why this marriage worked. The first one is Kenny cracking peanuts and sharing with his dog, Polly. The next one is Kenny having a bowl of cereal with his bird, Rowdy. The third is Kenny sharing a laugh with his son-in-law (but not the one that shot me with the champagne cork!)

And of all the choices I have made in my life, this is the one I never ever at any time ever regretted. He had a phenomanal sense of humor, which is always necessary at my house. He was honest to a fault, dependable, caring, responsible and I could go on and on, but that would be gushing.

Suffice it to say, I found my soul mate in 1977 when I came to Colorado. Married my soul mate on December 23, 1983 and began life on another plane on January 30, 2003. Kenny is not "gone", nor will he ever be "gone". He just isn't here. Do I miss him? Of course. Do I need him? Of course. Will I survive? Of course.

That is my story and I'm sticking to it!