The Stumbling Stepmom

Everyone knows the classic story of boy meets girl. But I’m pretty sure the girl in most of those stories doesn’t end up serving cake at the boy’s wedding.

My husband and I met in 1996. We think. Yes, a million years ago so our minds are a little fuzzy on the exact date. He was 17 and I was 21. A fact he still teases me about to this day. I had just moved up from AZ the Fall previously to attend LDS Business college in Salt Lake City, Utah. We met through one of my roommates who was good friends with his cousin. A lot of people might say we met by happenstance. I personally believe after all these years, looking back, we were meant to meet. But you can be the judge as you read my story.

Though we can’t remember the exact date or situation in which we met, we have talked about the fact that both of us knew, individually when we did meet, that we would always be in each other’s life.

Ok, back to the story….his cousin lived with her mom in Sandy, Utah. Her mom was an amazing woman. She loved and adopted most everyone she met. Her home was always open, full of people, food and love. I don’t remember exactly when I started going over there and hanging out but it became my home away from home and I ended up being over there all the time. My husband was always there. Not the main reason I would go over but definitely an added incentive. We played card games with all the cousins and anyone else who was there. Watched movies, went rollerblading, found crazy adventures and sat around and talked about anything and everything. It was a fun group of people. I miss those days. Over the next couple of years my friendship with my husband grew and strengthened. It was like we had known each other all our lives. We would stay up talking and laughing and joking long after everyone else went to bed. We grew close and my heart started to fall for him. And I wondered quite often if he was starting to fall for me too. I know, I know, scandalous. A 21 year old falling for a 17 year old. Thankfully he turned 18 not too awfully long after we met, so a little less scandalous perhaps? We never talked back then about any feelings we may have had for each other. Mostly because in February of 1997 he started dating his soon to be wife.