(While I’ve been going through stuff, unpacking, putting away, getting rid of, fixing my NEW HUGE WONDERFUL walk-in closet Alpha Hubby just finished for me, I’ve been pulling up older posts to re-post.)

Alpha Hubby truly is a Gift.  People don’t believe that people can be “made for one another” – but they can.  To keep it that way, you have to protect that Gift.  You have to cherish it and never allow it to tarnish.  You can’t allow the every-day-ness of life to steal the preciousness of the Gift.  You have to keep the flame burning bright and hot for one another.  You have to appreciate that Gift.

I still remember exactly how I felt and where I was when I prayed, while figuratively shaking my fist in the air, saying, “As God is my witness…” – oh OK, not really.  It was more along the lines of, “God, I will NEVER get involved again, ever.  I obviously do not know what is best for me.  I will never get married again unless You write it in the sky, ‘Nan, this is THE one’.  I’m through.”  (Yeah, a little bit of Scarlett O’Hara drama queen there but I was deadly serious.) 

And then 12 years later, He did.  How did He know this man would be so perfect for me? I often ponder that.

A couple of weeks after I met Alpha Hubby, there was an evening after I got off work, before I pulled out of the parking lot, that I felt this – a knowing, if you will – to go to Ha*mark and pick out a card that said “I love you.”  I didn’t want to do this simply because to go to the shopping mall was WAY out of my way.  But it was a very strong feeling so I did it.

I took the card home, signed it and dated it, then put it in my dresser drawer.

That evening, I was sitting in my chair in the living room reading.  The chair faced the outside door so I would know when Alpha Hubby got to my house that evening.  When he got there I glanced up as he walked in the door looking straight into my eyes, walked over to me, kneeled down in front of my chair, took the book out of my hand and set it aside, took one of my hands into his, placed his other hand, palm on my cheek…

…then asked, “Will you marry me?” 

I replied, “Yes”

He looked so stunned when he replied, “Really??”

I said, “Yes, really”

He stuttered, “But… well… um… you love me?  You will marry me?” 

I replied, “Yes.” 

“Really.  You want to marry me.”

Yes, gentle readers, I’m sure by now you’re wondering if he was trying to talk me out of marriage.  He was feeling a bit insecure (very unusual for him) at that moment because, as he later told me, he was NOT planning to propose that evening.  He just walked into my house and… did.  Freaking probably because we’d only been “together” for about 3 weeks.  Yes, three, 3, trois, drei, tre, три, AND tres.  Three.

I could tell he didn’t believe me, so I said, “Wait a minute.”

I got up and went into the bedroom, pulled the card out of the drawer, took it back into the living room, and handed it to him.  I could tell he wondered why I was handing him a card in the middle of “THE” most intense moment in his life, but he took it.

After he opened it, read it, and was looking a little shellshocked, I said to him, “Now I believe God had me pick that card out so that when this moment came, you would KNOW I mean it and that He really is in this.” 

I told him how I felt I needed to pick that card up that day without delay, but that I had no idea I would need it for that evening.  It wasn’t until then that he truly believed me.  It was one of those goose-bumpy moments (we have a lot of them in our relationship).

Seven weeks after we met at the office, we married on March 4th, believing we would be marching forth into something miraculous and amazing.  It has been.  Truly miraculous and amazing.  Even 18.3 years later.

Baby, you were my dream – what I never thought could be reality in my life. You were my knight in shining armour. You were my heart’s desire. How could I not have said yes?

“You gave your love away
And I’m thankful everyday
Can’t find the words to say
Thank you for the gift”

Cherish The Gift you have in your mate.  They truly are a Gift.  I know life can seem to steal the wonder of what you felt when you first met but it is important to protect what you have in each other.  Anything else is a waste of precious time.

Lyrics to “The Gift” here.