J is for Jennifer

For two days I've been trying to think of a "J" word.  I turned to a friend in a meeting this morning and said "Give me a "J" word".  He replied: "Jennifer".  derr

So today you will learn about me.

I was born in Ely, Minnesota on Valentine's Day in 1970.  My mom had friends who thought I should be named Candy.  Every year on my birthday, my Dad tells me the story of how he climbed up the big mound of snow between our house and the neighbor's house in order to take me brother over there before we went to the hospital.  He fell down the other side and sprained his ankle.

My parents met when they were children.  They lived a block apart.  After high school, Dad joined the Navy.  One time when he was home on leave, my mom stalked him and they went on one date.  He went back to California and they corresponded for a while.  The next time they saw each other was when Dad came back to Minnesota for their wedding.  They hadn't seen each other for 1 year, 11 months, and 9 days.  Now they've been married for 48 years.  Coincidentally, they were married on the same day as my In-laws but 5 years later.  I have never seen my parents fight.  Never.

My Brother is 3 1/2 years older than me.  We used to hate each other, but when I was in college and he was in the Army, we became friends.  Best friends.  We spent most of our weekends together even though we lived 2 hours apart.  I can just look at him and he will make me laugh.  We have a great relationship and I often find myself looking to him when I have a problem in my life.

I had a horrible time with choosing men.  I dated one guy all through college.  He had a plan for what his life would be like and I couldn't ever see myself fitting into that plan.   I then dated a guy for 5 years.  I wanted him to love me so bad that I couldn't see that he was just not the guy for me.  After that I was actually engaged to a man who was a golf pro.  He was one of the worst people I have ever met.  A terrible person.  Luckily I saw that before we ever got married.  I only regretted leaving him because he had two daughters whom I loved dearly.  I'm still in contact with them and they have even cut ties with their father.  That's how bad he was.  In between those three I dated several others.  One was the best looking man in the world, but he was dumb as a box of hair.  I called him my "Trophy Boyfriend".  Never to his face though.

When I was 31 my brother was married, his wife's sisters were all married, my friends were married and I thought I was going to have to start collecting cats because I was on the way to Old Maidsville.  I did have a dog so it was unlikely that I was going to go down the cat route.

One summer day while shooting with my Dad, I was talking with a friend who said she wanted to introduce me to a friend of hers.  He was recently divorced.  He had two kids.  I was less than excited about the prospect.  Then she pointed him out to me and it was a guy who I had always thought was good looking.  We talked for two hours.  I gave him my phone number he gave me his and I never heard from him for two months.  I had given up on him calling.  We finally had our first date on Thanksgiving weekend.

I already knew his kids.  I had seen them around the gun clubs for years and I was always chatting with The Boy. He liked to show me the frogs he caught.  It's hard to believe I have known my son for 17 years and my husband for only 11. 

So, we dated for two years and then the company I worked for went out of business and I needed to find a new job.  I mailed my resume to 20 places around the area where The Brown eyed Man lived.  The ONE place that called me back was only half a mile from his house.  Yay!  I've been there ever since.

I moved down.  We had a house built and moved into it.  THEN we got married (backwards). The Boy was the Best man and The Girl was the Maid of Honor.  Brown eyed Man's best friend married us.

So, we lived happily ever after...so far.   The dog died.  I thought I was going to die too.  We finally got another one.  The Boy has grown up and moved out.  The Girl has grown up and stayed. 

I guess this post ended up being more about us than just about me, but I guess that's who I am. Part of Us.

j