16 years ago, or so

Warning -- mushy stuff below -- if you are one of my debaters -- you might want to skip this and keep your most recent meal down...

The first time I visited hubby in MTN city was about 16 years ago this weekend.

He made me spaghetti, we listened to good music and I met the oldest cat in the world for the first time (she was a kitten then... ).

So much has changed, so much is the same... he's still adorable, smart, challenging, passionate and funny. He's still worried about taking care of me and has to do things the hard way if at all possible.

He's no longer in the military, we make more money and have two additional felines (old blind one and too many toes) -- and have lost both my sister and the cat who hated me. We also are living back in the city where we grew-up -- which is both strange and not strange at the same time. He's now the one finishing his degree at BN university, where I started as a freshperson 20 years ago.

16 years ago this weekend, I was returning from MTN city to BN city on a United Airlines flight --- I knew I'd be back in MTN city soon, and that things were going to be different from now on. I had no idea how different they would be -- life with hubby is pretty much like that, an adventure and one that I need.

He says I'm "calming" -- (I, being stubborn, call this boring) -- I know he's the instigator Pam once told me I need to keep from being really a "stick in the mud".

What is pretty freaking amazing is that in a couple of weeks I'll have known him for 20 years -- over half my life. I'm sure I'd be a very different person without him... Probably much less idealistic, more stodgy and a lot less well-educated. I'm sure I'd never have ended up teaching philosophy and I know that I wouldn't have coached debate had I never met him.

Kind of a "Sliding Doors" (movie reference) kind of post...