[trojangal]

Mr. trojangal and I had our first date on April 16, 1995...it was Easter and my birthday, and he wasn't really aware of it being either. We had actually been "talking" for about 3 months...he worked at a local bagel shop around the corner from my apt. that I frequented when I walked my dog in the mornings. I would usually stop by, pick up a bagel for breakfast, and we'd chat for a little bit. AFter that, things picked up speed.

We talked around the idea of marriage for a LONG time; he had some issues with past relationships, but time and patience allowed us to work though them. We both knew each other, and we were in a serious committed relationship.

After being together for 3 years, I was really beginning to think about where it was going...at 3 1/2 years to the day of our first day he proposed to me at Arman's in Birmingham. We married in July of 1999

so...4 years, 3 months, 8 days..

My parents met the summer of 1969--married in October 1969. They actually eloped...they got married when Dad took her to meet his parents in NY. Dad was in the military, and they thought that he was going to be shipped overseas. Hehehe..they didn't tell my mom's parents that they had gotten married until about a month later when they were all together at Thanksgiving. This past year was their 35th year of being married.

My grandparents ( mom's parent's) were a WWII marriage...they met in spring of 1943 and got married in July of 1943. They had 58 years together before my grandfather died..he lived long enough to see his last grandchild get married and to see his first great-child, our little girl, in July of 2001. We lost him on August 2001.