My True Love Story

Our Story

I met my husband when I was in the 9th grade. We had a class together and flirted a lot. Around the same time I met him through my then boyfriend outside of that class (they were friends) and we spent more time together after that and dated when me and his friend broke up. We spent a lot of time together at my house, even before we started dating. There was something about him that drew me in from the start.

Ron was sort of the bad boy type and he played baseball on the School's Varsity Team starting in 9th grade. He was in 10th grade when I met him. He was so cute and I admit I spent a lot of time in the class we shared flirting instead of learning. He was different than me: cocky, a jock, and he partied a lot. I was more shy when I first met someone and was kind of nerdy.

We bonded almost immediately and spent a lot of time on the phone and on the hood of his car in my front yard talking. We could talk about everything and nothing all at the same time. He was easy to talk to and very easy to love. We had so much in common once you broke the surface and got passed what click we belonged to at school.

We held and still hold the same things dear and that is the glue that binds our hearts. We had been through some of the same experiences as children such as divorce and dealing with abusive step parents, so we both held marriage in great esteem. I knew I wanted to get married and never divorce, and he had always held the belief he'd never get married and he'd never have to deal with a divorce. At least that's how he felt until we met. I don't think there was much that we didn't agree with back then.

We had so much fun together. We had fun whether we were talking, watching tv, out on a date, or visiting our parents together. We often visited his mom on our dates since he liked to go to the town where she lived on our dates, and he lived with his dad. We didn't have much money to spend on dates, but we didn't need it.

We dated exclusively and fell very much in love. We knew we would get married one day, he even asked me to marry him after we'd been dating a while. I always knew I would marry him, my heart belonged to him. No one could compare to him or the way I felt about him.

Sometimes as kids we dream of things that will not be.
Our young hearts just can't see how foolish those dreams can be.
We wish and hope upon many stars and pray for foolish dreams to come true.
We plan our lives around our hearts,
Though our hearts often deceive our young and fragile minds.
Everyone around us can see how improbable our plans.
Everyone can see through the haze of young love but us.
It's like we are wrapped in a permanent fog, seeing only the best of each other.
We refuse to see as adults.
We refuse to cast our dreams aside.
We refuse to change our plans.
We choose to linger in our foggy existence,
Dreaming our dreams that rarely come true,
Hoping and wishing for happy endings.
Seldom are our young hearts rewarded.
Seldom do we live our childhood dreams.
Sometimes we get lucky,
Fantasy meshes with reality and our childhood dreams do come true.
I am thankful I can look back to the past and see the boy I fell so deeply in love with,
Even more thankful that I can open my eyes and see the man that boy turned into.
I can look in his eyes and know those are the very eyes that captured my heart so long ago.
I can bury my head in his chest as we embrace, and feel the love that has always been.
I often smile at the thought that forever we'll be.
We both know that dreams do come true,
Even foolish dreams that young hearts dream

By: Crystal Touchton

When I was 16 my mom decided we were going to move to Arkansas, 800 miles away. We were both heartbroken at the thought of being torn apart. We spent all the time we could together before the move. Saying goodbye was so difficult to do. I felt as if I were loosing my best friend and the love of my life, and I was. We vowed to stay together through it, even though we'd be 800 miles apart, but it didn't happen that way.

It was hard for me at a new school trying to hold on to him, and live a life of a typical teenager. I failed miserably at a long distance relationship with him, but I never stopped loving him. I thought about him all the time and we talked on the phone and saw each other when I visited my family.

I got pregnant with someone else's child at age 17 and shortly after high school married the father of my child. I never felt the same way about him as I did Ron, but I chalked it up to him being my first love. Looking back, my ex never had a shot at comparing to Ron, and I think he felt it too, but I didn't really realize it at that time.

We lived our lives separately for 6 years. Occasionally we would talk on the phone or run into each other once I moved back to our hometown, but I was married and that made things impossible.

I began calling him on a more regular basis because I needed someone to talk to and he was always there for me. We talked when I was on my way home from work every night. My ex found out and he decided to leave, which was probably the best because our marriage was not a good one.

I ran into my husband two weeks after my ex left town. It was the day of my granny's funeral and I was exhausted from the funeral. I was at the local video store renting a cartoon for Kenneth to watch so I could take a nap when we got home while he watched tv on the end of my bed. Kenneth was acting up so I had taken him outside to talk to him, when I heard Ron's voice "hey girl". I turned around and there he was, the love of my life, just when I needed him, but I was getting ahead of myself because things were so complicated.

My ex husband had left 2 weeks before thinking I had been cheating on him with Ron, but in truth we had only talked on the phone. I hadn't seen him until that day at the video store. Ron was so shaky standing there as we talked. He was as happy and nervous as I was, but he suggested we take Kenneth to the park to play so we could talk.

While we were at the park we both played with Kenneth, but took some time out to talk as well. It was like we had never been apart. The love was still there, but even so, I think we were both cautious. I had a marriage ending and things were so complicated, but we continued to spend time together and we fell more and more in love with each moment we shared.

We got married 6 months after we ran into each other at the video store, in October of 2004. It was the day we'd dreamed of since we were kids, and it was everything we had dreamed of.

We were married on the weekend that the Georgia Bulldogs played Vanderbilt. It was going to be the previous weekend, but we decided to change the date since Georgia was playing Florida that weekend. I know that shouldn't matter when compared to our wedding, but we both wanted to watch the game and so did most of our guests. I decided that in honor of our wedding date change, that I would add a small football to my garter as a joke about the whole ordeal.

This was my first wedding (I married my ex at the courthouse), and it was beautiful. The colors were red, black, and white. I wore white, my brides maids wore little black dresses, and the flowers were red and white roses. My veil was made by my granny and it was beautiful also. Our cake was a three tier white cake with strawberries topping each layer. It was almond flavored yellow cake. Everything about my wedding was perfect when all was said and done.

For our honeymoon we just went to the neighboring town. We ate at my favorite Italian restaurant, and just enjoyed each other's company. I didn't want to take off my wedding dress, so I went to dinner in it, and I wouldn't have done it any other way.

Here we are approaching our 5th wedding anniversary and we have a beautiful life. We are the proud parents of two beautiful boys, one of which we co-parent with my ex husband. We spend every day enjoying the time that we have together, and loving each other to the fullest. Our marriage hasn't always been great, but there have been more good times than bad, and that continues to be the case.

As our 5th anniversary approaches, I keep thinking back to when we were kids and how much in love we were then. I have to smile at the thought because we were so young back then, but we were right. We knew we were right for each other, but we didn't know the best part, we would be more in love approaching our 30's than we were in our teens. Wow, that fact still amazes me.

My Husband

My husband is perfect for me in every way. He's confident, fun, loving, patient, kind, and is a wonderful husband and father. I couldn't ask for a better man to spend my life with. Now don't get me wrong, my husband is no angel. He is still that fun loving bad boy, but he's an amazing man and I love everything about him (Except a few minor imperfections, but hey, who's perfect?)

My husband embodies all that true love is.:

"Love is patient; love is kind
and envies no one.
Love is never boastful, nor conceited, nor rude;
never selfish, not quick to take offense.
There is nothing love cannot face;
there is no limit to its faith,
its hope, and endurance.
In a word, there are three things
that last forever: faith, hope, and love;
but the greatest of them all is love."

As many of you know I have bipolar disorder, and if you know anything about it, you know it is difficult to live with someone who has it. My oldest son also has ADHD and is very difficult at times as well. On top of that we have a beautiful two year old who holds his own, let me tell you. In the face of all this madness my husband comes out smiling most of the time. He also manages, some how, to improve the mood of everyone around him. He has more patience than I have ever heard of anyone else having, and I am so thankful.

My husband is always himself no matter what and in any situation. He's as self assured as one can get. He has taught me to always hold my head up high and to be myself no matter what anyone says does or thinks. I have always been true to myself, but knowing him has made it easier to be proud of who I am and where I came from.

Ron, my wonderful husband, is the best father a woman could ask for for her children. Kenneth is not his biological son, but he never treats him any different. Both Kenneth and Chrystian are the lights of his life. Everything he does is for them and every thing he dreams of is a dream just for them.