Sometimes it feels like I’ve been with the husband for an eternity. And I mean that in the best possible way, honestly. But it’s strange to think…it was just three years ago this very evening that we both went “hmmmm”. We’d met years before, knowing each other through our activism and a certain circle of friends. We even wound up working together for a while. Then he took off for the West Coast, to live in a vegan paradise also known as Berkeley. Life was good for him…for a time. The weather treated him well, his allergies were less aggravated, he had an awesome roommate and a job he enjoyed. Then I lured him back to Minnesota. Mouhahaha. He’d been home for the holidays, visiting his family. I kept tabs on his comings and goings via a mutual friend, who suggested a group of us go out to dinner for New Year’s Eve. It had to be a fairly early evening, as the little man was quite young then (just having learned how to walk, but still really wobbly) and I rarely went anywhere without him. The lot of us had a lovely meal at Grand Shanghai and I found myself not wanting the evening to end. When I gave the husband (known then as J) a goodbye hug the butterflies kicked into gear. Afterwards there was a cute courting period. I mailed him a mix tape, he sent me double chocolate chip cookies. Lengthy emails were exchanged, and the longest phone calls of our lives were had (and I didn’t do all of the talking, I swear). He came to visit me here. Then he flew me out there. The he came back again. The long distance thing was endured, for a time, before he gave up and moved back for good…and he was promptly infected by my infamous bad luck. But at least we’ve got each other, right?