No regrets, looking toward the future ...

As I sit here, days away from my 30th birthday, with the sounds of SheDAISY's "Come Home Soon", playing in the background I reflect on the past and realize, I have no regrets.

Had you told me 15 years ago, that this is where I'd be today, I would have scoffed at it. My youthful plans for the future were nothing compared to my life today, but looking back, I know I've got the better deal.

I had asperations of being a career woman, never even considered marraige. Not that I had anything against it, but I was determined to rise above my humble childhood. Growing up in a family was 12 siblings, was at many times challenging. Not that I didn't love my siblings, but I tended to fade into the background most of the time. there were too many real issues, to worry about those of us without. Especially as the oldest girl, I was busy taking care of the younger ones. I was just looking forward to the future and a chance to discover the "me" that was buried.

I worked hard to get into college, and after earning my first degree in Chemistry, I transferred universities to follow a passion I had discovered, writing ... journalism to be exact. It was the summer before that I had met him.

Like many youth in Houston, I worked my way through college at Six Flag Houston. Eighteen hour days were my ticket to the future I had dreamed of. We switched to the same department the summer of 2000. At first, I didn't like him much. I thought he was a bit arrogant and too sure of himself, but if you know my husband, that probably wouldn't surprise you.

Friendship later turned into love, I think in large part to his friends at the ROTC. They assumed I was "George's girl", even "warning" a guy or two that I was talking to over those three years. But the more we got to know each other, the more we realized we had so many of the same goals for our future, that it only seemed natural to reach them side by side. It was us against the world ... and still is.

Had you told me 15 years ago that I would be sitting at home, waiting for a husband who was halfway around the world, fighting for the freedom of others, I would have laughed. Had you told me that we would be making plans for starting a family in the near future, I would have rolled my eyes. But had you told me that I would have discovered true happiness, saw my dreams come true and look to the future with excitement, I would have smiled with a sigh of accomplishment, happy that I had disovered the real me ... and it was all because of the husband I had never dreamed of.

Until our next cup of tea ...