Skip to main content

The Ted and Colleen Story

Our time in NewYork.  We got engaged there.  He couldn't
even keep that a secret, he said to me before we left, "you
know I'm going to propose to you there, right?"
Last night we went to Ted's Civil Air Patrol Christmas Party.  I had a lot of memories flood back yesterday, as it was ten years ago at that very party that I decided that this was a man I could really love and spend more time with - maybe even spend my life with.

When my kids dad died, I found myself single.  I grew to love my single life.  I didn't have to answer to anyone - other than to tell my kids I'll be here or I'll be there.  My kids were my world and we enjoyed doing a lot of things together.  I had a lot of people telling me that I needed to move on - what they didn't realize was that I had moved on - and I enjoyed my new single lifestyle.

Unfortunately, in the meantime, I had been dating someone from my past and really stuck as to why this relationship was not the same as it was when I was in high school.  I kept trying to make it in my mind what I thought it should be and it just never was that - EVER.  It was a horrible mistake that was finally disintegrating.
Crystal and Brandon's wedding.  He was father of the
bride even then.  

By moving on, and meeting possible relationships, my friends meant I needed to go online and try online dating.  So, I finally went on Match.com and made a profile.  I chatted and met a couple of guys.  I went on a date with another guy from my past and decided then and there that wasn't going to happen.  Then came Ted.  He sent me a message and left his phone number.  I really wasn't sure about it - but, I decided to jump with both feet in and made the call.  When he answered, he said he was busy working on a carburetor and would call me back.  What the heck!

Ted and my beginning was quite tenuous. Our first meeting was in October.  I really did not like Ted when I first met him.  Not that I didn't like him - I didn't get him and I really didn't want a relationship with him. Our first meeting was to just meet up for "coffee" at a Denny's that was close to both of our locations.  We spent two hours together.  I didn't understand most of what he was talking
Our wedding.
about.  I didn't get him.  He would talk about radios, telephones, technology, and other geek speak and I was completely lost.  The words that were coming out of his mouth were floating well above my head.  They still do, but, I've learned that most of the time he says what I need to hear in the first couple of minutes when he starts gabbing about technology.  I block out the rest after that because I literally don't understand.  I finally made my excuses and headed home - going, what the heck??  I don't get this guy!!

My BFF, who remembers to this day and reminds Ted of it, said I needed to give him another chance if he offered.  Ted invited me to a movie the next weekend.  He said he would see what was playing at the "dollars".  Again I was saying to myself, "what the heck, don't I rate a full price movie?"  But, I agreed to go.  In the meantime, something that Ted doesn't know, the disintegrating relationship, someone I hadn't seen in a couple of months, reared his head and said he didn't want me dating anyone else.  I canceled on Ted.

When the disintegrating relationship was finally done, Ted and I went out again.  We went to that stupid dollar movie and breakfast.  This was now November.  I still wasn't feeling it.  Ted was awesome throughout this.  He would call me, he would ask me out.  Most of the time I made excuses.
In Hawaii.

What changed it??  I joke that I married my stalker.  Whenever I got online, Ted would see me on MSN messenger and start messaging me.  We started having conversations that didn't include geek speak.  He started to listen to me and ask about me.  I started to hear about him.  We spent a lot of time just chatting - online.  I started to really enjoy our conversations together.  We went out again and from that time we were pretty much inseparable.

It was December.  It was time for Ted's Civil Air Patrol banquet.  He asked me to be his date.  I was nervous about it.  We hadn't really spent any time in the others circles.    People were so grateful to Ted and the time he was spending there.  They truly appreciated him.  I was riveted by that.  I started to fall in love with the geeky part of Ted.  That part that made me crazy was adored by others.  I started to understand him better that night.

At the top of the Eiffel Tower
After that, he spent Christmas with us.  With my family.  Completely immersed in our crazy life.

We've been together for ten years now.  He can still make me crazy.  There were a couple of times that I didn't think we would make it.  Those were mostly in the early years.  Now we are a very comfortable old couple that enjoys being together.  I'm glad I finally started to listen.  I love that crazy geek that I married.  He's an amazing man, husband, dad, Papa and friend.




Pretty much the story of us.  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

CoCo's Journey - How Did I Get Here??

Malabsorption - definition - Malabsorption is a state arising from abnormality of food nutrients across the gastrointestinal tract.  Impairment can be single or multiple nutrients depending on the abnormality.  This may lead to malnutrition and a variety of anaemias (blood disorders). I have heard the term before.  But the first time I had heard it in response to me was a little over a week ago.  I was with my roommate daughter at her appointment and her doctor pointed to IVY and said, what's up with that??  So I told him.  And he said, people have no idea how hard it is when you have malabsorption.  People think you can just eat to make it better, but you can't. So let's go to the beginning.... If you have known me at all in the last few decades, you know that I was "morbidly obese".  I topped out at 245 pounds.  I had Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure, thyroid disease and stomach issues (gerd) for the last couple of decades and had taken...

CoCo's Journey - Answers!! Finally!!!

 Today I finally got answers!!!  I do not have Cirrhosis!!!  I am Pre-Cirrhotic.  Very close to that precipice but still not falling over the edge and falling into a place that I cannot get out of.  I had seen my gastric bypass doctor a while ago - and was given the wrong information.  I think he was looking at the headline and had not read the story.  It's something I'm good at, too.   My doctor explained that when I was overweight, the fat in my body was damaging my liver.  Then I had gastric bypass and that should have helped my fatty liver.  But, then I wasn't able to absorb the calories, so I became malnourished. My liver was not getting the proteins I needed in order to supply my body with the proper nourishment.  Every organ you have needs protein, and it starts in the liver.  So - the malnourishment started to affect my liver.  Leading to the state I'm in now. The thing I need to work on is getting off the diu...

CoCo's Journey - An update -- of sorts

 I was asked for an update.  So - I waited until my last appointment with my liver doctor to see what he was going to say.  What we were going to do.  What the hell is going on.   So - a little recap.  Mid August I was admitted to the hospital due to liver disease.  The initial diagnosis was cirrhosis of the liver due to malnutrition, which was caused by malabsorption. After a biopsy, that diagnosis was changed to pre-cirrhosis.  I had over two liters of fluid removed from my belly by needle aspiration the first day.  I left the hospital five days later with a PICC line with IV nutrition.  IV nutrition supplemented my regular diet for four months.  My PICC line was removed in December and now it's a matter of how my body adjusts as to what the steps are. Since August and having the IV nutrition, I gained over 40 pounds.  I was a little over 140 pounds when they disconnected IVY (my PICC line/nutrition/bag - that's her name...