Living Life & Loving Mike

 Living Life and Loving Mike

Mike and I are celebrating our second wedding anniversary. Yep, two years. In many ways we both feel we have been together much longer. It’s strange. 

Engagement Photos
Courtesy of Allison Curran

Though we went to the same high school and graduated at the same time, we didn’t really know each other all that well those four years.

Mike was a friend of Tom’s. They boated and waterskied nearly every weekend when the weather was good. Tom lived on a beautiful lake down the road from Mike. Tom had the lake. Mike had the boat. I wasn’t part of that crowd in high school. I dated Tom my senior year and married him the December after I graduated and he was in college.

Some of my readers know my story with Mike. I had been widowed nearly eight years when our high school hosted a reunion. Mike had been widowed for over thirty years.

I planned a post-reunion potluck picnic at the Lake House for the day after our official reunion and invited everyone. Yep, the same house where the crowd waterskied all those many years ago. 

Mike still lived on the same road and offered to drive me to the reunion. He offered to help me with the picnic. It was a whirlwind weekend. 

A weekend sealed with a kiss before I finished loading the car and heading back to Ohio on August 29, 2022. 

Songs are written about “young love.” I’m here to tell you, loving someone and knowing they love you back makes you feel young.  Okay…younger.

And since we were both feeling a bit younger, we dated with the times: lots of phone calls, text messages, Facebook posts and FB messages. He sent flowers. More than once. Several times, in fact. And…he drove the more than a thousand miles to visit me and meet my family. Several times.

By Christmas we were engaged. We hosted a sweet, family wedding that next April and took a trip to Islamorada in the Florida Keys for a honeymoon. Life is good. 

Wedding Day in the Park

Mike and I returned to Islamorada for our first anniversary… and now? Yep, we are once again going to our favorite resort for a few days of sun and water, rest and relaxation, and of course, celebration. 

I don’t live life on a whim. I live it on a prayer. I’m not oblivious to the fact that it is God who brought two good men into my life. Instead, I live knowing I am blessed beyond measure. 

Happy Anniversary, Michael Tyler! Thank you for loving me! (I already thank God every single day for bringing you into my life.)