V is for Victor

He is my partner, my husband, my lover, my soul mate, and my hero. Almost 19 years ago, I was lucky enough to really get to know and start dating my husband. See, I had already met him months before but on that August day in 1992, I went down to the rescue squad with my roommate (we were both members) and, while Aleta was taking care of the paperwork she had to complete, I hung out by the picnic table out back and talked to the guy who was manning the wreck truck with another friend of mine (Kristi). You know how when you just click with someone, you end up talking about everything. Well, that's what happened to me and Vic. I think Vic was shocked he ended up telling me an abbreviated version of his life story and I didn't run screaming (LOL, that's a story for another day).

Later that evening, I got a call from my friend Kristi telling me that Vic wanted to ask me out and asked if it was ok to give him my phone number (we had an unlisted number). She told me that after I left he looked a bit upset and, when she asked him what was wrong, he said that he had just met someone he wanted to ask out and he was worried he had scared me off with his life story. She assured him it took more than that to scare me off and put us in touch with each other. Between his crazy schedule as a firefighter, our volunteering at the rescue squad, and my working weekends, it was hard to find a night we could both go out so I invited him over for dinner and a movie at my place.

I honestly wasn't looking for a relationship. I was only 6 months out of a long term relationship and just wanted someone to have fun with. The day night of our first date, I cooked a simple but delicious dinner, made sure I had some of his favorite music playing, and had a copy of Backdraft to watch. We had a great time...good food, lots of good conversation, and a good movie to watch. It turned out that despite his concerns, our 10 yr age difference was unimportant because we had so many of the important, fundamental things in common. I honestly think he didn't say a single thing wrong that night. When it was time to call it a night, Vic gave me a kiss and, man, oh man, what a kiss it was. I know that was one of the hottest kisses I have ever had. Then he looked at me and said, "There's only one problem now...." and I said, "What's that?" Vic said, "I don't think I want to leave now." I smiled and said, "Well, I'm not asking you to leave."

After he left to go to work the next day, I was hanging out with my friend Kristi. Of course, Kristi wanted all the dirt and, even though there was a lot to tell, the first thing that came out of my mouth was "I'm going to have to be careful with this one." Kristi had to know why. She wanted to know whether she got to laugh her ass off at me or whether she needed to kick some ass for me. I told her that if I wasn't careful I was going to fall hard and fast for Vic because he said all the right things and was everything I wanted in a man. Kristi did what any true friend did and laughed her ass off at me. But, it turned out I was right. Within a month we were planning how to spend our holidays together and we never looked back.

It definitely hasn't been smooth sailing. There have been moments we've driven each other crazy and many moments life has thrown a shit storm at us. But, I can honestly say I am more in love with him now than I was on the day I said "I do."