Happy anniversary to my parents!

Today is my parents' 29th anniversary. Now, some of you are going "hey, wait a minute, Rebecca is nearly 36 -- how does that work?" Well, when I refer to my "parents" I mean my mother and step-father. I haven't spoken to my actual father since I was 16 (that's a long drawn out story) but have never felt like I missed anything.

My mother and my step-father, S, first met when my mom was a kid. In fact, S taught her to drive when she was 15 and he was 22! At the time, he was dating her older sister. (!) I'm not sure how long they dated, but it seems like he was a pretty big fixture at their house for a while. My mother and father got married when my mom was only 20. At about that same time, S was getting divorced and had an infant son. S told me once that he ran into my mother and father at the library right before she got married and thought "she shouldn't be marrying him, she should be marrying me."

Fast forward 12 years -- my mother divorced my father when I was 4 and we moved in with my grandparents. A little over a year later, S, who had managed to date every unmarried Jewish woman in Atlanta by this time, ran into her at a party thrown by a mutual friend. Within a month they were engaged. Within five months, they were married -- after my mother asked her sister's permission, that is. At 6, I was my mother's maid of honor in long pigtails with a gap-toothed smile. My mother was 34, a year older than I was when I got married and a year younger than I am now. At the time, I thought she was old... :)

I feel like December 20th, 1981 is the day my family came together. I can't imagine life without S. We struggled when I was little and didn't appreciate him. My father was "cool" and S was trying to actually parent me. He was always trying to push me to be my best but was incredibly proud of me no matter what I did while my actual father just wanted to show me off and was disappointed in me more than anything else. My father just used me as a substitute when he couldn't find a date. S actually loved me.

And, most importantly, he loves my mother more than life itself. Their relationship is what made me understand that I could be loved and that true love was worth waiting for. Their relationship is what made me know that settling wasn't good enough. If my marriage can be as happy and stable and strong as theirs, then I am a lucky woman.

Anyway, I've been smiling all day as I think about them together. Just wanted to share.