10 Years Ago Today...

When I was 17 and Johnny was 18, he asked me to be his girlfriend. :) This means that we have been together (on and off) for 10 years today. I never stopped caring for him when we weren't together; I just kept trying to find pieces of him in the other guys I dated. No one looked at me quite the way he did. He was always easy to talk to, easy to love. Still is. I've been thinking today about how much my boy has changed since then. John used to be this angry teenager with something to prove - he didn't need anyone. He tried to push everyone out. But, I wouldn't go. I could see this gentleness back behind the rage in his eyes and I kept wading through to find it. Now, he's become this confident, strong soldier who has complete control of his emotions, of his body, of his mind. He doesn't hold onto anger anymore. The funny thing is, he's been through more crap than anyone I know and he's also the most well-adjusted person I know. Somewhere along the way he figured out how to be so vitally himself that nothing could touch him - not death, not pain, nothing. Nothing can compromise who he is. I love that about him. Through all that's happened these 10 years, I still love him more than life itself. And I'm in for 10 more. Bring it on. We can take it. ;)