Loving Thoughts

Being a teenager is so much fun. Being in high school is supposed to be the best four years of your life. Being 16 is so exciting. You get your license, and a job, and everything is so new. About a month after my 16th birthday, I got my first job working as a hostess at a local restaurant. Little did I know, a week after I started, I would meet the love of my life.

I was standing at the front of the restaurant when this tall, lanky boy walked in. As soon as I saw him, I knew he'd be important in my life. I remember him asking me something, but I swear I couldn't hear him. Very cliché, I know.

Eventually, one thing led to another, and I fell in love with him. No, not the school-girl type of love. Like the adult love type of love. I had never been happier. I wrote my number down on the back of fried pickles ticket and the rest is history.

We had the summer of our dreams. All love and intimacy. Kindness and caring. He supported me like no other and I loved him like he had never been loved before. Of course, things don't always stay perfect, and we hit a rough patch when I started school. We argued, and fought, and things got nasty. I thought my life was ending.

Then, in December, I got pregnant. It made the both of our lives do a 180. Granted, we argued the majority of time during my pregnancy (I mean, hormones, duh). But when our son was born, it was amazing. The change in us was amazing. Becoming parents was our greatest blessing.

Just a week before my 18th birthday, we got our very first apartment. It was a very run down place, but it was ours. It was home. I love that apartment with my whole heart. We've had so many memories there. Obviously, there was stress and tension because we were on our own, paying our bills, buying our own groceries. But the struggle is where the best memories come from.

Watching him be a dad, and a provider has been so wonderful. He's stronger than ever. When I met him, he was broken from a past relationship, but now, 2 1/2 years later, he is the strongest man I know. I understand that things get rough and you can't always back down. Sometimes you have to buckle down and tough it out.

I never realized what it took to be in a committed relationship, and I don't think I have any idea now either, but I'd like to think I have a better grip on it now than when I was 16. I'm still young, but I'm still learning, and so is he. The whole point in being in a relationship is to grow with the other person. Learn with them and from them.

You're supposed to love them unconditionally and support them. It's so hard to love someone despite their flaws. It's hard to put aside your feelings to help someone else. But it's worth it. When you love someone, you'll do anything to keep them.

I can't wait to see how him and I grow. Not only in our relationship, but as parents, as a family, and as individuals. So the point is, in this sad sap love story, is that you love the person you're with. No one's perfect, so you learn to love them as they are.